DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (9-9 overall, 5-5 GLIAC) led Roosevelt (6-12 overall, 3-7 GLIAC) 60-58 with 2:23 left to play in the game on Monday night inside the Fieldhouse.  However, the Lakers would outscore the Warriors by six, 9-3, over that final stretch to hand the home team a 67-63 loss in the squads' first-ever meeting.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The first 10 minutes and change of the contest saw a combined three ties and three lead changes.  In that span, Wayne State's biggest advantage was five (11-6) and Roosevelt's lead was never more than one (12-11, 14-13).

Once it was 14-13 at the 9:06 mark, the Lakers had just started a 10-2 run that put them ahead by seven (22-15) with 7:11 on the clock.  Rob Lee, Jr. (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) and Kelvin Tamakloe (Accra, Ghana / Spring Creek Academy [Blinn College]) then countered with a three-pointer and dunk, respectively, that slimmed the margin back to two, 22-20.

The visitors took it in stride though and rattled off the next eight points, stretching their edge out to 10 (30-20) with just under three minutes to go until the break.  Lee, Jr. completed an old fashioned three-point play, Carlos Paull III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) converted a pair at the free throw line and the deficit shrunk to five, 30-25.

The scoring was 3-2 in favor of the away team for the final minute of action, so Roosevelt's lead was six (33-27) heading into the locker rooms.

Wayne State shot just 32.3 percent (10-of-31) from the field in the first half to Roosevelt's 44.4 percent (12-of-27).

Second Half
Roosevelt's biggest advantage of the night at 13 happened twice in the second half, the first of which was at the 16:17 juncture (41-28).  The Lakers outscored their hosts 8-1 in those first three-plus minutes before leading by 13 again at the 12:07 mark (47-34).

Wayne State punched back with 17 of the next 20 points to regain its first lead since 13-12 at 51-50.  During that 17-3 outburst (8-of-10 FG, 0 turnovers), four Warriors contributed to the scoring column including Lee, Jr. with seven, Jon Brantley (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Brother Rice [Lafayette College]) with four, Tamario Adley (Detroit, Mich. / Warren De La Salle [Macomb CC]) with four, and Paul III with two.

RU's Fred Robinson IV hit a triple back on the other end, but WSU stayed hot with a mini 7-0 spurt, and the good guys' advantage was back to five (58-53).  Paul III accounted for four of those points while Adley chipped in three.

Roosevelt knotted things up for a fifth instance at 58-58 and Adley cashed a pair of freebies before the affair's sixth and final deadlock came at 60-60 with 2:05 remaining.  However, that came in the midst of the Lakers game-ending 9-3 run.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 39.7 percent (23-of-58) for the game, including just 13.8 percent (4-of-29) from behind the arc.  Roosevelt countered that with an overall clip of 45.1 percent (23-of-51) and long-range output of 38.1 percent (8-of-21).  The Warriors converted 13-of-18 (72.2 percent) at the free throw line to the Lakers' 13-of-20 (65 percent).  WSU won the rebounding battle 39-32 while churning out 15 assists to eight turnovers.  RU was even in those departments, seven and seven.  In the team head-to-head, Wayne State had the upper hand in bench points (20-9), second-chance scoring (15-5) and points in the paint (34-28), while Roosevelt led in points off turnovers (12-6).  Roosevelt played just seven players, two of which fouled out.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Paul III turned in the fourth double-double of his career, first as a Warrior, thanks to 13 points and 14 rebounds (personal best).  He was one of three in double-figures along with Lee, Jr. (15) and Adley (14).  Adley nearly racked up more assists than all of Roosevelt combined with five.  Defensively, he and Lee, Jr. each notched a block while four different players registered one steal apiece.

LEADING THE LAKERS
Enari Thomas scored a game-high 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting (just 1-of-2 from three) and 8-of-13 from the free throw line.  Robinson IV was next up in the scoring column with 16 points.  Griffin Yaklich brought down 11 boards while Forte Prater dished out three dimes and secured a pair of steals.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will hit the road to face Purdue Northwest (4-14 overall, 1-9 GLIAC) in Hammond, Ind. on Thursday night with the opening tip slated for 8:00 p.m. eastern time.