HOUGHTON, Mich. -- Despite trailing by 20 points at halftime, the Wayne State University men's basketball squad (8-7 overall, 5-4 GLIAC) gave sixth-ranked Michigan Tech (17-2 overall, 8-1 GLIAC) all it could handle inside the SDC Gymnasium.  However, the Warriors could not complete the comeback, as they fell 75-74 to the Huskies on Thursday night.

WSU was outscored 43-23 by MTU in the opening 20 minutes, then outpaced the hosts by 19 (51-32) in the final stanza.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Wayne State never led in the first half, and other than 0-0, tied the score just once.  Michigan Tech's Dawson Nordgaard made MTU's first basket 40 seconds into the contest and the Huskies never looked back.  A couple of free throws by Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) 1:09 into the game deadlocked the contest briefly at 2-2, but MTU quickly scored the next seven points to lead 9-2 with 16:57 to play.

The hosts had a seven-point advantage (11-4) at the first media timeout, while grabbing a nine-point lead (17-8) at the under-12 media break.

The closest the Green and Gold could get to the Huskies in the final 10 minutes came when Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich. / Detroit Loyola [Macomb C.C.]) slammed home a dunk with 8:28 remaining in the frame to put WSU within seven (23-16).

Paul III led the Warriors with seven points in the first half, while Cooper Craggs (Northville, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central [Oakland]), JaKobie Boose (Flint, Mich. / Hamady), and Nweke chipped in with four points each.

Second Half
Nweke and Paul III continued their scoring to begin the new frame, as the duo combined for all nine points in a 9-2 run across the first three minutes to cut the deficit to 13 (45-32).  Another 9-0 run between the 15:32 mark and the 13:35 mark helped cut Michigan Tech's lead even further to just nine (50-41).  Those nine points came on a trio of quick three-pointers from Nweke, Adam Ayrault (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North), and Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.).

Although MTU re-gained a double-digit advantage (54-44) at the second media timeout, the Warriors returned from the quick break with a flurry of points, going on a 12-0 run in just over four minutes to obtain their first lead of the night.  Boose tallied four points, while Briggs added three in the stretch via an old-fashioned three-point play.  Then, Paul III would take over and drain a triple with 8:52 left to knot the contest at 54-54.  The senior then converted on a layup for WSU's aforementioned first lead of the game at 56-54.

The Huskies would have their own offensive outburst between the 6:37 and 3:35 marks to jump back on top.  MTU outscored the Green and Gold 10-5 between those times, with every point acquired by 2025-26 GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year Marcus Tomashek.

Tomashek would add two more free throws on the other side of the media break, while a three-pointer from Josh Terrian with 2:38 left gave Michigan Tech an eight-point lead at 69-61.

Wayne State would never lead again despite the efforts of Briggs, who would score 11 of WSU's final 13 points over the last 2:27.  That included six shots made from the charity stripe, a three-pointer, and a lay in.

TEAM STATS
After shooting just 29 percent (8-of-28) from the field in the first half, Wayne State nailed 17 of its 28 attempts from the floor in the second half, which was a 61-percent clip.  However, the squad's game percentage of 45 percent still trailed Michigan Tech's 53 percent overall.  The Huskies also finished with more rebounds (36-26), assists (16-10) and blocked shots (3-0), while WSU had four more steals (9-5).  The Green and Gold had three more bench points (18-15) than the Huskies, but MTU secured two more second-chance points (11-9).  Wayne State also turned the ball over just six times compared to Michigan Tech's 13.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Briggs fired in a team-best 21 points (19 in the second half) for his fifth time this campaign with 20+ points, as well as 12th instance in double-figures.  Paul III (18 points) and Nweke (15) were the other two Warriors with at least 10.  Paul III finished with a game-high four steals, while Boose totaled three dimes to pace WSU.  Nweke brought down a team-high six rebounds.

LEADING THE HUSKIES
Tomashek led the way for the hosts with a game-best 35 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field, including six made triples on 11 tries.  Gabe Smith and Matt Schmainda each provided 10 as the other two Huskies in double-figures.  Nate Abel snagged a game-best eight boards, while dishing out six assists to pace all players.  Nordgaard rejected two Wayne State shot attempts.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will continue its challenging road swing to the Upper Peninsula looking to right the ship against the other leader in the GLIAC.  WSU will face No. 13-ranked Northern Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 3 p.m. inside the Vandament Arena.  NMU entered the week tied with Michigan Tech at the top of the conference standings with matching overall and league ledgers.