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Wayne State University Athletics

Jotham Nweke
WSU Athletics Creative
Jotham Nweke had 13 points and a game-best 14 rebounds in the win at Davenport.
80
Winner Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 6-6,3-3 GLIAC
66
Davenport Daven 9-5,3-3 GLIAC
Winner
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne
6-6,3-3 GLIAC
80
Final
66
Davenport Daven
9-5,3-3 GLIAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 32 48 80
Davenport Daven 40 26 66

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

Strong Second Half Keys Men's Basketball Road Win At Davenport

WSU won 80-66 out-scoring the Panthers 48-26 over the final 20 minutes.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (6-6 overall, 3-3 GLIAC) used a strong second half in which they out-scored host Davenport by 22 points (48-26) to post its second road conference win in the last three outings.  WSU registered an 80-66 triumph over the Panthers (9-5 overall, 3-3 GLIAC) to conclude a four-game road swing.  The Warriors will play nine of their final 14 regular-season contests at the WSU Fieldhouse.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
There were six lead changes in the first 5:30 with the biggest lead during the opening segment being four points (7-3) by DU.  Aidan Moon drained a triple to turn a 10-9 Wayne State advantage into a 12-10 margin for the hosts in the final lead change of the opening half.  Davenport had a 12-1 run to leads 21-11 with just under 11 minutes remaining before intermission.

After two free throws by senior Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) and a bucket by junior Devin Belle (), the Panthers responded with five consecutive points by the GLIAC's leading scorer Ken Walker.  A jumper by Paul preceded a triple by Walker, which put DU ahead by 12 (29-17) with just over seven minutes left.

Once again, Walker answered a WSU bucket by junior Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich. / Detroit Loyola [Macomb C.C.]) with another long-range shot for his 11th point in the opening 14 minutes.  With Davenport leading 32-19, the Warriors tallied 13 of the final 21 points to trim their deficit to eight (40-32) at the break.

Redshirt junior Cooper Craggs (Northville, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central [Oakland]) led Wayne State during the opening 20 minutes with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting (2-of-4 from three-point), and four defensive rebounds.

Second Half
Junior Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) began the second half with a steal and a triple off a feed from Nweke to make it a five-point contest (40-35).

Davenport had a 3-2 scoring edge, before Nweke connected from long range to pull the Warriors within three at 43-40 with 15 minutes remaining.  Over the next two minutes, the Panthers notched a 7-4 scoring advantage to lead by six (50-44), but Nweke's offensive rebound and lay-up followed by a defensive rebound and triple by Nweke cut the deficit to one (50-49) with 12:28 left.

After each team made two foul shots, redshirt sophomore Adam Ayrault (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) scored off a feed from redshirt freshman JaKobie Boose (Flint, Mich. / Hamady) giving the Warriors its first lead since early in the game at 53-52.  At the other end, DU missed a pair of free throws and Ayrault drilled another trey from Boose.

On the ensuing series, Ayrault grabbed a defensive rebound which led to a triple from Briggs.  Just under a minute later, Paul scored on a lay-up and later split a pair from the charity stripe.  Boose connected on two foul shots to conclude the 13-0 spurt by Wayne State.  A Walker lay-up ended the run and trimmed the WSU advantage to 10 (64-54) with just over seven minutes remaining.

The Warriors led by 13 (69-56) on a shot from downtown by Ayrault, and never held an advantage of less than 10 the rest of the game.

Nweke nearly had a double-double in the second half, recording eight points and nine rebounds, while playing all 20 minutes.  Briggs tallied 14 points, while Boose (11) and Ayrault (8) were key offensive contributors.  Briggs, Paul and Nweke were each +22 over the final 20 minutes.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 47 percent from the floor on 23-of-49, while DU was 24-of-63 for 38 percent.  WSU connected on 9-of-20 triple tries (45 percent) with the Panthers making 7-of-25 from beyond the arc (28 percent).  The Warriors were 25-of-30 at the charity stripe (83 percent), with Davenport shooting 61 percent (11-of-18) from the foul line.  Wayne State held a 38-33 edge in rebounding, along with a 34-13 advantage in bench points.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Five WSU players scored in double figures led by Jordan Briggs with 18.  Jotham Nweke registered the first double-double of the season by a Warrior with 13 points and a game-best 14 rebounds.  JaKobie Boose contributed 14 points, with Carlos Paul III (13 points) and Cooper Craggs (12 points) also reaching double digits.  Briggs dished out six assists, while Nweke and Briggs each had three steals.

LEADING THE PANTHERS
Ken Walker tallied a team-high 15 points, but was just 3-of-10 from beyond the arc.  Alden Ritt chipped in with 14 points, while Curtis Jackson notched 12 points and a game-best seven assists.  Aidan Moon grabbed a team-high eight boards.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will return home to face the Parkside Rangers with a 7:30 pm tip-off this Thursday at the WSU Fieldhouse.
 
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