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Wayne State University Athletics

Devin Belle 2025 vs. Ashland
Emily Stetz
Devin Belle finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.
76
Winner Ashland AU 1-1,0-0 G-MAC
64
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 1-1,0-0 GLIAC
Winner
Ashland AU
1-1,0-0 G-MAC
76
Final
64
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne
1-1,0-0 GLIAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Ashland AU 36 40 76
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 31 33 64

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Cooper Weidenthaler, Assistant Director for Media Relations

Men's Basketball Drops In-Region Affair to Ashland, 76-64

The Eagles used a 20-6 run in the second half to pull away from the Warriors.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (1-1 overall) trailed Ashland (1-1 overall) by only four, 46-42, just over five minutes into the second half.  However, the Eagles utilized a 20-6 frenzy that wasted almost 10-and-a-half minutes and stretched their advantage to 18, 66-48, with only 4:29 left in the contest.  From there, the Warriors could never get closer than six before the final margin of 12, 76-64.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Ashland opened the game with a 13-2 run that lasted nearly six minutes.  That lone Wayne State basket was a Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich. / Detroit Loyola [Macomb C.C.]) two-pointer that opened either team's scoring just 21 seconds in.

At the 13-2 juncture, the Warriors rattled off seven straight points to pull within four, 13-9.  That spurt included a Marshall Thorn (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth [Schoolcraft C.C.]) layup, two Chase Kuiper (Troy, Mich. [Detroit Mercy]) free throws and an Adam Ayrault (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) three-pointer.

However, the Eagles countered with 10 points in a row and pushed their lead back to 14, 23-9, with just over nine minutes remaining in the half.

Back came the home team, though, with 10 consecutive points of its own to slim the margin to four, 23-19.  In that outburst, Devin Belle (Lyndhurst, Ohio / Pepper Pike Orange [Lincoln Trail C.C. / Lakeland C.C.]) was responsible for six points on two triples while Nweke added a pair of deuces.

From there until halftime, the scoring was much more even at 13-12 in favor of the visitors.  At the intermission, AU's advantage was five, 36-31.

Second Half
Prior to Ashland's 20-6 second-half run, Wayne State outscored the away team by one, 11-10, through the initial five-plus minutes of the half.

Right after the Eagles went up by 18 at the 4:29 mark, the Warriors made things interesting by scoring 16 of the ensuing 20 points.  Four different players accounted for those 16 points including Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) with eight, Jalen Jenkins (Belleville, Mich. [Macomb C.C.]) with four, Nweke with two and Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) with two.

After that, WSU was unable to score another point as AU went 4-of-4 at the charity stripe to go with a layup and no turnovers.

TEAM STATS
Ashland shot the ball more efficiently than Wayne State in all three phases, 51 percent to 40.6 percent from the field, 50 percent to 18.2 percent from long range and 94.4 percent to 85.7 percent at the free throw line.  Total rebounds, assists, turnovers and steals were either deadlocked or within one of each other.  The Eagles did attempt 11 more free throws than the Warriors, 17-of-18 compared to 6-of-7.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Three Warriors scored in double-figures including Nweke (17), Paul III (13) and Belle (10).  Nweke and Belle each brought down five rebounds while Briggs was on top of the assist department with four.  Defensively, Briggs notched a trio of steals and Nweke racked up four blocks.

LEADING THE EAGLES
Maceo Williams, the reigning G-MAC Player of the Year, scored a game-high 28 points, Cooper Davis added 15 and Jordan Edwards tacked on 10.  Davis was one board shy of a double-double and Edwards dished out six dimes.  On the other side of the ball, Jason Henlon had three steals and Williams recorded his team's lone block.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will wait six days to play again before hosting Northwood on Saturday, Nov. 22 with the opening tipoff slated for 3 p.m. inside the Fieldhouse.

 
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