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Wayne State University Athletics

Jotham Nweke 2025 vs. Michigan-Dearborn
Emily Stetz
Jotham Nweke scored a game-high 18 points in the win over UMD.
66
Mich.-Dearborn Mia-D 0-1
101
Winner Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 1-0,0-0 GLIAC
Mich.-Dearborn Mia-D
0-1
66
Final
101
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne
1-0,0-0 GLIAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Mich.-Dearborn Mia-D 16 50 66
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 52 49 101

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

Men's Basketball Begins Season With Win Over Michigan-Dearborn

Warriors went on a 32-0 run midway through the first half.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (1-0 overall) officially kicked off its 2025-26 season with a convincing 101-66 triumph over visiting Michigan-Dearborn (1-4 overall) Friday afternoon at the WSU Fieldhouse.  A 32-0 run after trailing 14-13 midway through the first half was the deciding factor in the Warrior victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
After senior Kelvin Tamakloe (Accra, Ghana / Spring Creek Academy [Blinn College]) scored the first points of the season, the Wolverines scored the next four points, before junior Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) drained triple to regain the lead at 5-4.  UMD's Devin McMorris answered with his own triple putting the guests ahead 7-5.

In the anything you can do, I can do better category, junior Devin Belle (Lyndhurst, Ohio / Pepper Pike Orange [Lakeland C.C.]) connected from beyond the arc giving the Warriors and 8-7 lead and marking the fourth lead change in about three minutes of game time.  

The teams exchanged hoops before Michigan-Dearborn's Collin Miller split a pair from the charity stripe to knot the game at 10-10.  Two jumpers by UMD were sandwiched around a triple by junior Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich. / Detroit Loyola [Macomb C.C.]) making the score 14-13 Wolverines with 13:25 left before intermission.

The Wayne State defense held UMD scoreless for the 11:15, while the Warrior offense went on a 32-0 spurt.  Six different WSU players scored during the run highlighted by 12 points from Nweke, including the first eight of the offensive outburst.  

McMorris ended the drought with a lay-up, but Nweke drained another three-pointer to make it 48-16.  Graduate student Jon Brantley (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Brother Rice [Lafayette College]) and junior Cooper Craggs () each scored buckets to end the first half with the Warriors leading 52-16.

Second Half
Wayne State scored five of the first seven points after intermission to lead by 39 (57-18).

A triple by UMD's Collin Miller with 15:34 remaining cut the Wolverines deficit to 33 (63-30).  The margin remained between 34 and 39 until Craggs' jumper in the paint at the 11:04 mark extended the advantage to 40 (76-36).

A fastbreak lay-up by senior Bryce Esman (Metamora, Mich. / Oxford) after a steal by sophomore Chase Kuiper (Troy, Mich. [Detroit Mercy]) pushed the lead to 41 (84-43) with 8:17 left.

McMorris connected from beyond the arc with 2:04 remaining to make it a 30-point contest at 96-36.  WSU ended the game on a 5-0 run, which included three free throws by freshman Luke Westerdale (Grosse Ile, Mich. / Riverview Gabriel Richard).

TEAM STATS
Wayne State made 54 percent (38-of-70) of its field goal attempts, while UMD shot 36 percent (26-of-72) from the field.  WSU was 12-of-26 from beyond the arc (46 percent) with the Wolverines making 10-of-32 triple tries (31 percent).  The Warriors shot 65 percent (13-of-20) from the foul line, while Michigan-Dearborn was 4-of-11 (36 percent).  Wayne State had a 55-33 edge in rebounding, while both teams had 11 turnovers.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Nweke led WSU with 18 points on 7-of-10 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range.  Belle contributed 16 points on 7-of-10 from the field.  Briggs chipped in with 13 points and a game-best six assists.  Craggs grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

LEADING THE WOLVERINES
Thomas Dillard IV led UMD with 14 points on 7-of-12 from the floor.  McMorris added 11 points and four assists, while a trio of players (Jackson Reynolds, Abed Abuzahrah and Dillard) had four rebounds each.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will continue its homestand with a 2 p.m. contest on Sunday at the WSU Fieldhouse against GMAC rival Ashland University.
 
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