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Wayne State University Athletics

Jordan Briggs - 2024 vs. Michigan-Dearborn
Taylor Carrow
Jordan Briggs had game-high totals of seven assists and +11, while also scoring 10 points.
67
Purdue Northwest Pur-NW 3-11,0-6 GLIAC
70
Winner Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 7-7,3-3 GLIAC
Purdue Northwest Pur-NW
3-11,0-6 GLIAC
67
Final
70
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne
7-7,3-3 GLIAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Purdue Northwest Pur-NW 28 39 67
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 30 40 70

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Men's Hoops Holds On For 70-67 Triumph Over Purdue Northwest

Six Warriors score in double figures.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (7-7 overall, 3-3 GLIAC) won its second close game of the weekend prevailing 70-67 over visiting Purdue Northwest (3-11 overall, 0-6 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon at the WSU Fieldhouse.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Despite playing without two its starters (Kareem Aburashed and Tamario Adley), the Warriors raced out to a 19-9 lead in the first eight-plus minutes by shooting over 50 percent (8-of-15 / 53.3 percent), including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.  Meanwhile, the Pride connected on 36 percent (4-of-11) from the floor with one triple in four attempts.  Guards Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) and Carmelo Harris (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) each made a triple and a two-point field goal during the early spurt for WSU.

PNW responded with a 9-0 run as Wayne State went scoreless for four minutes, before a put-back bucket by Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy), who was making his 100th career start.  A minute later, Jon Brantley (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Brother Rice [Lafayette College]) drained a three pointer increasing the margin to six (24-18).  

Purdue Northwest scored the next three baskets to even the game at 24-24, prior to Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) making a pair of foul shots with 2:54 remaining before intermission.  The contest was tied twice more at 26-26, and 28-28, but Kelvin Tamakloe (Accra, Ghana Spring Creek Academy [Blinn College]) made a lay-up in the final seconds giving the hosts a 30-28 advantage at halftime.

Second Half
Williams, Jr. began the second half scoring with a four-point play on a triple and free throw putting the Warriors in front by six (34-28).  Five consecutive points by the Pride cut the lead to one (34-33), before Rob Lee, Jr. (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) made a jumper.  PNW answered with four consecutive points for a 37-36 lead with 17:02 left.  It was Purdue Northwest's first lead since 2-0 on the opening possession of the game.

Tamakloe scored again off a feed from Lee, Jr. to regain the lead, before Lee connected on another jumper and free throw to extend the lead to four (41-37).  Williams, Jr. grabbed a defensive rebound and was rewarded with a lay-up off a dish from Briggs, then Briggs fed Tamakloe for another hoop prompting a timeout by the Pride as Wayne State had taken a 45-37 lead.

After a pair of Purdue Northwest foul shots, Paul III made a jumper from inside the paint, and Harris followed with a triple increasing the margin to 11 (50-39).  A lay-up by Paul III pushed the lead to 13 (52-39). 

A Briggs free throw with 9:58 remaining gave WSU its largest lead of the game (14, 57-43).  Following a turnaround jumper by Lee Jr., which made it 59-46, PNW went on a 9-3 run to pull within seven (62-55) with 6:30 remaining.

A step-back jumper by Briggs extended the lead to nine (64-55), but the Pride rattled off an 11-3 run over the next five-plus minutes to make it a one-point game (67-66) with 55.5 seconds left.

Lee Jr. made a pair of shots from the charity stripe with 26.5 seconds left but PNW's Jailen Nelson grabbed his own missed shot and was fouled.  Nelson made the first but Williams, Jr. grabbed the rebound on the miss and was fouled with 10.7 seconds left.

Williams, Jr. made the first shot giving the hosts a three-point advantage at 70-67.  Purdue Northwest's Collin Albert went to the foul line shooting one-and-one with 4.5 seconds left and missed the first with Tamakloe grabbing the rebound.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 42 percent (26-of-62) from the field, compared to PNW's 48 percent (28-of-59).  WSU went 7-of-20 (35 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Pride were 5-of-19 (26 percent).  The Warriors made 73 percent (11-of-15) of their foul shots, with Purdue Northwest shooting 75 percent (6-of-8).  Wayne State had a 39-30 edge in rebounding.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Six WSU players scored in double figures, including all five starters led by a team-high 15 points from Rob Lee, Jr.  Both Carmelo Harris and Ray Williams, Jr. contributed 11 points, while Carlos Paul III and Kevin Tamakloe each chipped in with 10 points.  Williams, Jr. nearly had a double-double with a game-best nine rebounds.  Briggs dished out a game-high seven assists to zero turnovers.

LEADING THE PRIDE
Jailen Nelson tied for game-high scoring honors with 15 points, while Detalian Brown added 13 points.  Dalton Gayman grabbed a team-best five rebounds.  Both Nelson and Collin Albert had four assists.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will make the trek to the Upper Peninsula for the second time in three weeks playing at Northern Michigan on Thursday (7:30 p.m.) before visiting Michigan Tech for a 2 p.m. tip-off on Saturday.


 
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