DETROIT — The Wayne State University men's basketball team (8-9 overall, 5-6 GLIAC) didn't have an answer for Purdue Northwest (8-10 overall, 4-7 GLIAC) on Thursday night inside the WSU Fieldhouse.  The Warriors fell at home to the Pride for the first time in series history (9-1) by a score of 73-60.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Purdue Northwest opened with seven of the game's first eight points and 10 of its initial 13.

Following a Jordan Briggs' (Muskegon, Mich.) jumper to make it 10-5 at the 13:36 mark, the Pride countered with another outburst, this time to the tune of 21-7.

That spurt of nearly 10 minutes stretched their lead to its largest of the half at 19, 31-12, with 4:10 left on the clock.

From there until the final buzzer, Wayne State was able to outscore its visitors by nine (12-3) and slim the margin to 10 heading into halftime, 34-24.

Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) was responsible for seven of those 12 points while Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich. / Detroit Loyola [Macomb C.C.]) and Briggs added three and two, respectively.

PNW converted on 58.3 percent (14-of-24) of its field goal attempts while WSU shot at a clip of 33.3 percent (8-of-24).  The away team also utilized a 10-point edge in the paint, 20-10.

Second Half
Out of the intermission, Wayne State missed its first seven field goal attempts and the Green and Gold's first point came at the 14:46 mark on a Paul III free throw.  Through the first six minutes and 16 seconds of the half, Purdue Northwest outscored the home team 7-3 to lead by 14, 41-27.

Over the course of the next 4:38, the Warriors proceeded to thin the deficit to 12 on three different occasions, including 41-29, 48-36 and 50-38, but no further.  Following the final instance, the Pride rattled off seven straight points for their biggest lead of the night at 19, 57-38.

Off the bench, Jon Brantley (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Brother Rice [Lafayette College]) cashed a three-pointer for his first points since Dec. 20, but PNW responded with a triple of its own to extend the spread back to 19, 60-41.

WSU had one more run in it, 19-9 to come within nine (69-60) with exactly 60 seconds remaining.  However, it was too little, too late as the visitors pulled away by 13.

TEAM STATS
Purdue Northwest shot the ball at a 54.9 percent clip (28-of-51), the third-best output by a Wayne State opponent this season, including 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from behind the arc.  Wayne State finished at 36.4 percent (20-of-55) overall and 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from deep.  The Pride had a seven-point edge off the bench (19-12) and six-point advantage in the paint (32-26).

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Briggs (17 points) and Paul III (15 points) represented the two Warriors who scored in double-figures.  Nweke brought down six rebounds while both Briggs and Jalen Jenkins (Belleville, Mich. [Macomb C.C.]), who made his first start in the Green and Gold, dished out three assists apiece.  Defensively, Nweke notched a career-high five steals and blocked a pair of shot attempts.

LEADING THE PRIDE
Kyle Ross turned in a double-double with 24 points. 11 boards and five dimes.  Garrett Clark added 11 points and two steals while five different players tallied a block.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will hit the road on Saturday for a 3 p.m. start in Big Rapids against Ferris State.  The Warriors will look to sweep the season series as they defeated the Bulldogs 98-77 in Detroit back on Dec. 6.