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Wayne State University Athletics

Carmelo Harris - 2025 vs. Parkside
Izzy Rincon
Carmelo Harris scored a team-best 19 points in the win at DU.
81
Winner Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 14-12,10-8 GLIAC
70
Davenport Daven 5-21,1-17 GLIAC
Winner
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne
14-12,10-8 GLIAC
81
Final
70
Davenport Daven
5-21,1-17 GLIAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 33 48 81
Davenport Daven 35 35 70

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

Men's Hoops Records 81-70 Victory At Davenport

Harris leads four Warriors in double figures with 19 points.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (14-12 overall, 10-8 GLIAC) has won three of its last four games following an 81-70 victory at Davenport University (5-21 overall, 1-17 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon.  It was WSU's second win this year in conference play on the second game of the weekend.  The only previous triumph was a 70-67 win over visiting Purdue Northwest on Jan. 11.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
After the game was tied 2-2, senior Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy), who was playing in his school record 121st game as a Warrior, had a dunk and junior Carmelo Harris (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) followed with a tip-in for a 6-2 lead.  DU responded with seven consecutive points for a 9-6 advantage.  The contest was tied twice more at 9-9 and 12-12 before Aidan Moon and Joey Cabana connected on back-to-back triples for the hosts.  Then Jovan Tucker drained a trey for a 21-12 Panther lead which prompted a timeout by WSU coach Bryan Smothers.

Two foul shots by sophomore Rob Lee, Jr. (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) and a lay-up by junior Kelvin Tamakloe (Accra, Ghana / Spring Creek Academy [Blinn College]) preceded a Davenport bucket.  Junior Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) made a jumper and sophomore Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) splashed a triple to cut the WSU deficit to two (23-21) with 5:22 remaining before intermission.

DU led by four (27-23) before Harris connected from long-range to make it a one-point contest (27-26) with 2:57 left.  After four straight points by Davenport, graduate student Jon Brantley (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Brother Rice [Lafayette College]) drained a shot from beyond the arc trimming the margin to two (31-29).  Over the final 65 seconds prior to halftime, each team scored four points giving the Panthers a 35-33 lead after 20 minutes.

Second Half
Moon drained another triple to start the second half scoring, but two free throws by Harris and a conventional three-point play by Lee, Jr. knotted the scored at 38-38 with 17:40 left.  A Tamakloe lay-up was followed by a DU basket to tie the game at 40-40.  Lee, Jr. connected from beyond the arc giving the Warriors a 43-40 lead.  A Harris jumper pushed the WSU lead to five (45-40).

A Paul lay-up and two foul shots by junior Tamario Adley (Detroit, Mich. / Warren De La Salle [Macomb CC]) gave the visitors a 49-42 advantage.  Over the next three-plus minutes, Wayne State had a 13-5 scoring advantage to grab a 62-47 led with 11:09 remaining.  Harris, Briggs and Brantley all connected from downtown during the spurt with Lee, Jr. and Paul III each making baskets.

The closest Davenport would get the rest of the way was nine points (79-70) on a triple by Jovan Tucker with 21 seconds left.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 44 percent (23-of-52) from the floor compared to DU's 45 percent (28-of-62).  WSU was 8-of-17 (47 percent) from three-point range, while the Panthers connected on 10-of-25 triple tries (40 percent).  The Warriors were a solid 82 percent (27-of-33) at the charity stripe, with Davenport making 4 of its 14 foul shot attempts (29 percent).  Wayne State had a 37-36 edge in rebounding, along with a 30-9 advantage in bench points.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Carmelo Harris tallied a game-high 19 points with Jordan Briggs adding 15 points off the bench.  Briggs was 9-of-10 at the charity stripe and 2-of-2 from three-point range, along with a game-best five assists.  Rob Lee, Jr. chipped in with 12 points, while Kelvin Tamakloe nearly had a double-double with 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds.

LEADING THE PANTHERS
Jovan Tucker led DU with 18 points, which included 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.  Aidan Moon notched a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.  Matyas Vrabel added 15 points for Davenport.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will conclude the regular season with a pair of home games.  WSU entertains Ferris State for a 7:30 p.m. contest on Thursday (Feb. 27), followed by a Senior Day match-up against Lake Superior State at 3 p.m. on Saturday (March 1).
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