DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (0-1 overall) is ready for its first road trip of the 2026-27 campaign.  The Warriors will head to Ashland, Ohio to face Malone in a neutral matchup on Saturday (7:30 p.m.) before seeing the host Eagles on Sunday (4 p.m.).

STORYLINES
Wayne State will look to break into the win column for the first time this season after dropping its season opener at home on Monday, 83-70 to 14th-ranked Walsh of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).  Malone (1-0 overall) defeated Bryant & Stratton College 108-77 on Tuesday while Ashland (0-1 overall) came up short  at Wheeling on Monday, 87-78.

SCOUTING MALONE
Having just started head coach Tae Gibbs' first season as head coach, Malone was picked to finish 10th out of 12 schools in the G-MAC Preseason Coaches Poll.  The Pioneers are coming off a 14-14 campaign in 2025-26, which included a 7-13 mark in league play.

Gibbs came to Malone after most recently serving at Southern Illinois University as an assistant coach.  His role with the Salukis focused on recruiting, scouting and skill development within the program.  Southern Illinois was ranked inside the top 30 in all of NCAA Division I in defensive efficiency and was the top defensive team in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Senior guard Nic Williams has returned for Malone after he was selected as a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Second Team All-American and NCCAA First Team All-Midwest Region performer last year.  Williams paced the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game, shot 36.2 percent (64-of-177) from behind the arc and turned in four 20-point efforts including 28 on Feb. 5 against Northwood.  Also back is redshirt-senior guard Jake Bruns after 5.3 points per contest and 30 makes (30-of-92, 32.6 percent) from long range a season ago.  Williams didn't play in the season opener on Tuesday while Bruns scored 11 points of his own.

SCOUTING ASHLAND
Still running the show for Ashland is the program's all-time winningest coach, John Ellenwood (295-187, .612 winning percentage).  When you factor in Ellenwood's previous stop at Thomas More, his overall record becomes 328-235, good for a .583 winning percentage.

This season, Ellenwood's 18th at the helm of the Eagles, Ashland was picked to finish third in the 12-team G-MAC.  

AU returned one full-time starter from a season ago in sophomore guard Jason Henlon (4.5 ppg., 3.1 rpg., 1.9 apg., 1.2 spg., 51.2 FG%), as well as junior forward Jason Moore (11.3 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 62.4 FG%, 76.2 FT%), who started 15 of 30 games in 2025-26.  Also coming back after seeing significant time off the bench a season ago are sophomore guards Max Dawson (9.7 ppg., 1.8 rpg., 48.0 FG%, 39.4 3FG%, 72.7 FT%), Beau Siegfried (3.4 ppg., 1.6 rpg., 1.9 apg., 85.7 FT%), and sophomore forward Trent Minor (2.2 ppg., 1.3 rpg., 70.0 FG%).

SERIES HISTORY
Wayne State and former GLIAC member Malone have met nine times in the all-time series.  The Pioneers have taken seven of those nine meetings, including the last six in a row, and three of four in Canton.

Ashland, another former GLIAC foe, trails the all-time series with Wayne State by two (34-32), but the Eagles have beaten the Warriors in four straight contests and five of the last seven.  WSU was last on the right side of the scoreboard against AU on Feb. 16, 2021 in a GLIAC affair at Ashland, 64-60.

LAST GAME RECAP
The first six-plus minutes saw a back-and-forth affair that featured two ties and three lead changes.  Walsh's Jadi Cunningham hit a layup at the 13:16 mark that put his team up three (12-9) and came in the midst of a 9-2 run for the away team.

The back-and-forth play then returned briefly as each squad notched six points and the Cavaliers maintained their three-point advantage, 18-15.  The visitors then mounted a 12-2 spurt that gave them their biggest lead of the night at 13, 30-17.

Wayne State didn't go away quietly though and punched back with eight of the next 10 points to cut the deficit to seven, 32-25, with 4:25 on the clock.  In that span alone, six of the Warriors' eight points came at the charity stripe while JaKobie Boose (Flint, Mich. / Hamady), Marshall Thorn (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth [Schoolcraft C.C.])) and Rudis Donis (Talsi, Latvia / Ventspils State Gymnasium No. 1 [Latvijas Universitate])) each contributed to the scoring column.

However, WU was able to extend its upper hand back to 12 (42-30) with just over a minute remaining in the half, but WSU returned the favor slightly heading into the intermission.  Jalen Jenkins (Belleville, Mich. [Macomb C.C.]) cashed in a three-point attempt and Da'ron Mason (Pontiac, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) converted a pair of freebies to slim the margin to seven (42-35) at the break.

Sandwiched around Walsh's Matthew Biddell making a jumper out of the locker room, Thorn hit a free throw and Donis followed suit with three of his own to make it a five-point game, 44-39.  That difference was the smallest the game would see for the rest of the night.

The Cavaliers' advantage would balloon to as big as 16 (75-59) with 4:14 to play before the final 13-point spread.

Thorn tied the game high with 15 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double.  JaKobie Boose added 13 points and Adam Ayrault (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) finished with 10.  Jenkins (seven points) dished out six assists, Anthony Benard (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich. / Grosse Pointe South [Mercer / Canisius]) swiped a trio of steals and Ayrault also blocked a pair of shot attempts.  Donis matched Jenkins in the point column with seven of his own.

ON THE AIR
Twenty-five of the remaining 27 men's basketball contests will air on the Warrior Sports Network with veteran play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Brechmacher calling the action for the 11th consecutive season.  He will be joined on the home broadcasts by former WSU basketball student-athletes Andy Dold, Chuck Key and Marcus Moore on a rotating basis.  The only games not on WSN will be the Dec. 16-17 contests from Puerto Rico.

In addition, every GLIAC basketball game will be on FloCollege as well as all home games from the WSU Fieldhouse.  To subscribe to FloCollege (FloHoops) please click here.

Veteran Detroit broadcaster Tony Ortiz will handle the sideline reporting duties for a majority of the home games on both FloHoops and the Warrior Sports Network.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will play its next five games inside the friendly confines of the WSU Fieldhouse.  That five-game homestand begins on Friday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. against Minnesota State Moorhead, a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).