DETROIT -- Hosting NAIA's Talladega College as part of the inaugural Hoops & Culture HBCU College Expo on Thursday, the Wayne State University men's basketball team took care of the Tornadoes thanks to a final score of 67-59 inside the WSU Fieldhouse.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Wayne State scored the game's first two buckets, a jumper by Jon Brantley (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Brother Rice [Lafayette College]) before Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) followed suit.  Talladega knotted the ledger up at 4-4 before Brantley drained a three-pointer to make it 7-4.  After a Tornado deuce, Briggs knocked down a pair of three throws to put his team up three, 9-6, at the 17:33 mark.

WSU's next points wouldn't come until nearly six minutes of game time had elapsed, the 11:49 juncture.  At that point, Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) sank two freebies and the home team was back within five, 16-11.  From there, TC's advantage grew to nine twice (20-11, 22-13) and even as large as 10, 28-18, with just under three minutes remaining in the half.

Wayne State proceeded to end the first 20 minutes on an 11-1 run to tie the score at 29-29, just the second deadlock of the contest (4-4).  Ten of those 11 Warrior points came from Briggs while Paul III added a free throw.

Second Half
Out of the break, Wayne State rattled off the first five points to go ahead 34-29, all of which Paul III was responsible for with a layup and old fashioned three-point play.  Talladega slimmed the margin to one, but the hosts pushed their lead back to five (38-33) when Paul III and Briggs hit back-to-back layups.  Once again the Tornadoes battled back to within one at 38-37, but the Warriors countered with 10 unanswered points to take their biggest advantage of the game at 11, 48-37.

During that spurt, Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich. / Detroit Loyola [Macomb C.C.]) accounted for six points while JaKobie Boose (Flint, Mich. / Hamady) and Bryce Esman (Metamora, Mich. / Oxford) each notched a pair of their own.

From there until the final buzzer, WSU led by as many as 12 at 53-41 following a Paul III triple and the closest TC could get was six at 62-56.  Once the margin was thinned to six, Wayne State proceeded to cash in on five of its six free throw attempts to put the game on ice.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 37.9 percent (22-of-58) from the field while Talladega shot at a 29.6 percent (16-of-54) clip.

The Tornadoes attempted 13 more free throws (25-of-36) than the Warriors (17-of-23), but neiter team shot the ball well from behind the arc.  WSU converted 6-of-27 (22.2 percent) from deep and TC answered with 2-of-18 (11.1 percent).  The home team won the rebounding battle by 10 (47-37) to go with 12 assists (17 turnovers) to the visitors' six (11 turnovers).

Wayne State handled points in the paint (30-18) and fast-break scoring (16-6), but Talladega had the upper hand in bench points (24-12).

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Briggs led all scorers with 22 points while Nweke and Paul III tacked on 13 apiece.  Nweke was two rebounds shy of a double-double and Kelvin Tamakloe (Accra, Ghana / Spring Creek Academy [Blinn College]) tallied just as many boards.  Jalen Jenkins (Belleville, Mich. [Macomb C.C.]) dished out four assists accompanied by three steals on the defensive end.  Two of Wayne State's three blocks came from Boose.  

LEADING THE TORNADOES
Two scored in double-figures, Eric Howard, Jr. with 15 and Tre Simmons with 11.  A trio of Tornadoes brought down six rebounds including Shaun Walker, Ethan Smith and Jalen Bing-Wallace.  Both Smith and Howard, Jr. finished with two dimes, Smith and Walker stuffed two shot attempts each, and Arthur Williams  recorded two swipes.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will play its third and final exhibition before the regular season begins on Friday, November 14 against Michigan-Dearborn at 4 p.m. inside the Fieldhouse.