HAMMOND, Ind. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (2-3 overall, 0-1 GLIAC) fell to Purdue Northwest (3-3 overall, 1-0 GLIAC) 77-58 on the road Tuesday night for the 2025-26 league opener.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Purdue Northwest notched the game's initial 14 points and outscored Wayne State 18-6 over the course of the first 13-plus minutes.

Adam Ayrault cashed a three-pointer (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) to break the seal and Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) made one of two at the free throw line along with a layup to get the Warriors to six.

That layup kicked off a 9-3 WSU run that lasted nearly two-and-a-half minutes and pulled the Green and Gold within six, 21-15.

Those nine points featured Briggs with five, Cooper Craggs with two (Northville, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central [Oakland]) and Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) with a deuce.

From there until halftime, the head-to-head scoring was even at 8-8, and the Pride carried a six-point lead (29-23) into the intermission.

Neither team shot the ball well in the first 20 minutes including 31 percent (9-of-29) for Wayne State and 35.5 percent (11-of-31) for Purdue Northwest.  The Pride out-rebounded the Warriors by seven, 24-17.

Second Half
Through the first five-plus minutes of the second half, the balanced scoring continued as Purdue Northwest scored 12 points to Wayne State's 10.

With the margin at eight, 41-33, at the 15:37 mark, the Pride rattled off seven of the ensuing nine points to push their advantage back to 13, 48-35, with 12:24 remaining.

The Warriors wouldn't go away completely, though, and stayed within 12 at 59-47 with 7:31 showing on the game clock.

PNW's lead grew to 18 at 66-48 before WSU made one last push.  Briggs converted a pair of freebies, Craggs dropped in a jumper and Briggs splashed in a triple that slimmed the deficit to 11 at 66-55.

However, in the final five minutes and 23 seconds, the home team registered 11 points to the visitors' three before the final 19-point difference.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 36.5 percent (19-of-52) from the floor to Purdue Northwest's 47.5 percent (28-of-59).  The Pride made 10 three-pointers (10-of-27, 37 percent) to the Warriors' five (5-of-16, 36.5 percent).  PNW won the rebounding battle by seven (39-32) and tallied 16 assists (11 turnovers) to WSU's nine dimes (14 turnovers).  The hosts domininated scoring in the paint to the tune of 34-20.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Briggs racked up a personal-best 27 points, nearly half of Wayne State's total.  Four different Warriors brought down four rebounds including Craggs, Devin Belle (Lyndhurst, Ohio / Pepper Pike Orange [Lincoln Trail C.C. / Lakeland C.C.]), Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich. / Detroit Loyola [Macomb C.C.]) and Jalen Jenkins (Belleville, Mich. [Macomb C.C.]).  Briggs, Ayrault and Jenkins each dished out two assists, four different players had a steal and Craggs accounted for the Green and Gold's lone block.

LEADING THE PRIDE
Four Purdue Northwest scorers reached double figures including Kevin Taylor (17), Kyle Ross (14), Kwat Abdelkarim (12) and Davontae Hall (11).  Taylor's 10 boards gave him a double-double and Ross was on top of the assist department with five.  Defensively, Ross and Aaiden Ashton had two steals apiece while Ross and Pat Robinson stuffed one shot attempt each.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will host Ferris State on Saturday inside the WSU Fieldhouse with the opening tip scheduled for 3 p.m.