DETROIT -- After leading Lewis (2-6 overall) by three, 39-36 at the intermission on Saturday, the Wayne State University men's basketball team (3-4 overall) was outscored by six, 50-44 in the second half en route to an 86-83 defeat inside the WSU Fieldhouse. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The first half was a tight one that saw a combined five ties and seven lead changes without a real flow to the game.

Both teams led by as many as five points, including 35-30 and 37-32 for Wayne State, while Lewis enjoyed advantages of 25-20 and 28-23.

Both squads also shot the ball well in the first 20 minutes, including 57.7 percent (15-of-26) for the Flyers and an even 50 percent (14-of-28) by the Warriors.

WSU (4-of-11, 36.4) and LU (4-of-12, 33.3) splashed in four three-pointers apiece.  The home team converted 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) at the free throw line while the visitors were just 2-of-6 (33.3 percent).

Second Half
Out of the break, Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich. / Detroit Loyola [Macomb C.C.]) cashed a triple that gave Wayne State its biggest lead of the day at six, 42-36.

Lewis then began to assert itself over the course of the next nine-plus minutes, outscoring the hosts by eight, 21-13, for its first advantage of the second half, 57-55 at the 10:31 mark.  In that stretch alone, the Warriors were 0-of-5 from behind the arc and 3-of-7 at the charity stripe with three turnovers.

The Flyers kept the pressure applied with 15 of the ensuing 24 points and had taken their biggest lead of the contest at eight, 72-64, with just under seven minutes to play.

Right then, Nweke hit another deuce, reached a season-high 20 points and started up a 13-5 outburst in favor of WSU.  That spurt elapsed just over three minutes of game time, knotted the score up at 77-77 with 3:56 to go and featured five Green and Gold scorers. 

The four other than Nweke were Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) with four, Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) with three, Cooper Craggs (Northville, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central [Oakland]) with two, and Jalen Jenkins (Belleville, Mich. [Macomb C.C.]) with a pair.

Following a layup from LU's Cale Cosme, Briggs sank a trio of freebies to give his squad the 80-79 advantage, the good guys' final lead of the game.

In the next two minutes and two seconds of game time, Lewis notched seven points to Wayne State's three, resulting in the score reading 86-83.

After a timeout by either team, the Flyers' Arius Alijosius missed a pair of free throws and Briggs got the ball back, but his triple try at the buzzer came up short.

TEAM STATS
Efficient shooting from the floor carried over into the second half as Wayne State finished at 51 percent (26-of-51) to Lewis' 55.2 percent (32-of-58).  With that being said, both teams left points at the free throw line as the Flyers were 14-of-23 (60.9 percent) and the Warriors converted 25-of-39 (64.1 percent).  LU also won the battle in the paint with a 46-38 advantage over WSU.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Four Warriors scored in double-figures including Briggs (22), Nweke (20), Paul III (13) and Craggs (12).  Craggs brought down a game-high seven rebounds, which tied his career best, all of which were on the defensive glass.  Lastly on offense, Jenkins dished out five assists, his new high for this season.  Defensively, four different players registered a steal while Nweke tallied Wayne State's lone block.

LEADING THE FLYERS
Alijosius paced all scorers with 28 points to go with six boards.  Cosme was the leading assist man with three, a trio of players tallied one steal apiece and Timofei Komissarov blocked one shot attempt.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will wait another week to play its next game when it hosts Redeemer on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 3 p.m.