DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (4-4 overall) dispatched Redeemer (2-7 overall, exhibition) with ease on Saturday afternoon inside the WSU Fieldhouse, 103-46, to close out the 2025 calendar year.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Wayne State scored the contest's first six points and 14 of its initial 18.

In that 14-4 run, five Warriors broke into the scoring column including Marshall Thorn (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth [Schoolcraft C.C.]) with four, Cooper Craggs (Northville, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central [Oakland]) with four, Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich. / Detroit Loyola [Macomb C.C.]) with two, Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) with two, and Adam Ayrault (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) with two.

After that, the closest Redeemer could get was eight points at 14-6.

In the ensuing four-plus minutes, WSU took control of the game with 18 of the next 20 points to push its advantage to  24, 32-8.

In that spurt alone, Ayrault registered five points, but was joined by a quartet of others.  That group included Jalen Jenkins (Belleville, Mich. [Macomb C.C.]) with five points, JaKobie Boose (Flint, Mich. / Hamady) with four, Kelvin Tamakloe (Accra, Ghana / Spring Creek Academy [Blinn College]) with two, and Chase Kuiper (Troy, Mich. [Detroit Mercy]) with two.

From there until the final buzzer of the first half, the scoring was much more balanced, but still favored the home team by 11, 28-17.  The hosts went into the locker room up 35, 60-25.

For the opening 20 minutes as a whole, Wayne State shot 52.1 percent (25-of-48) from the field, including 21-of-33 (63.6 percent) inside the arc.  Even more specifically, 36 of those 42 points came in the paint where the Warriors boasted a 36-10 edge.

Second Half
Wayne State outscored Redeemer 43-21 in the final 20 minutes en route to the decisive 57-point decision.

The Royals made just 20 percent (6-of-30) of their looks in the second half while the Warriors cooled down to convert at a rate of 37.5 percent (15-of-40).

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 45.5 percent (40-of-88) from the floor for the day to Redeemer's 25.8 percent (16-of-62).  The Warriors manhandled the Royals in the rebounding department to the tune of 66-36, which led to a 29-5 margin in the second chance scoring.  WSU cashed in nine more triples (9-of-31 to 4-of-21) and four more free throws (14-of-17 to 10-of-17).

LEADING THE WARRIORS
As mentioned in the sub-headline, all 17 of Wayne State's players got in the game and scored.  At the forefront of that group were Boose and Ayrault, each with 11.  Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) and Nweke each brought down eight rebounds while Briggs dished out four assists.  Defensively, the Green and Gold were paced by Nweke's two steals and six different players with one block apiece.

LEADING THE ROYALS
Parker Davis was the team's ringleader in points (22), boards (7) and blocks (1).  Other Redeemer contributors included Jack Nirula (two assists), Thomaz Barbosa (two assists, one steal), and Jason Usuomon (one steal).

UP NEXT
Wayne State will wait 13 days for its next game, Friday, Jan. 2 at Saginaw Valley State with the opening tip scheduled for 3 p.m. in University Center.