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Wayne State University Athletics

Jotham Nweke - 2025-26 at Parkside
Taylor Carrow
Jotham Nweke (13 points) scored in double-figures for the 11th time this season.
66
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 12-12,9-9 GLIAC
77
Winner Wis.-Parkside UWP 12-14,6-12 GLIAC
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne
12-12,9-9 GLIAC
66
Final
77
Wis.-Parkside UWP
12-14,6-12 GLIAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 29 37 66
Wis.-Parkside UWP 40 37 77

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Cooper Weidenthaler, Assistant Director for Media Relations

Halftime Deficit Too Much for Men's Basketball to Overcome at Parkside

The two teams tied in the second half (37-37), but Parkside was ahead 40-29 at the break.

KENOSHA, Wis. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (12-12 overall, 9-9 GLIAC) trailed Parkside (12-14 overall, 6-12 GLIAC) 40-29 at halftime on Saturday afternoon inside De Simone Arena, but was unable to overcome the deficit in the second half en route to a 77-66 defeat.  The Warriors have dropped five straight on the Rangers' floor where they're 3-13 in the all-time series.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Senior Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) opened the scoring with a layup just over a minute into the contest.  That started a stretch of five lead changes between the 17:30 and 12:41 marks, which was just under five minutes.  Parkside extended its lead to six on a three-pointer from Luka Mateski with 10:54 to play, but was quickly answered by a triple from senior Cooper Craggs (Northville, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central [Oakland]) on the next possession to cut UWP's lead to three (16-13).

Following that, the Rangers went on a 9-3 run to grab a 10-point advantage (27-17) at the under-eight media timeout.  From there to the end of the stanza, Parkside's advantage would hover between eight and 12 points, but no more than that.

Junior Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.), sophomore Jalen Jenkins (Belleville, Mich. [Macomb C.C.]), and junior Marshall Thorn (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth [Schoolcraft C.C.]) all scored four points each in the final seven minutes of the period to lead the way for the Warriors.

Second Half
Only four points were tallied in the opening two minutes of the new half, which all came from Briggs at the charity stripe to close Wayne State's deficit to seven (40-33) with 18:21 to play.  A triple from Jenkins answered a lay-in from UWP's Josiah Palmer right after to make it 42=36 UWP with 17:27 left.  A trio of free throws by Paul III, including two just following the media timeout, then made it 46-39 Parkside.

A dunk by junior Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich. / Detroit Loyola [Macomb C.C.]) cut the Rangers' lead to its shortest since the first half at five (46-41) with 15:12 remaining.  A subsequent 12-6 run from the hosts up to the under-12 media timeout extended that lead back to double-digits at 58-47.

UWP's Jack Rose tallied nine straight points for the Rangers between 12:12 and 10:22, while Paul III provided four consecutive points for the Warriors late in that same stretch.  After a layup from junior Marshall Thorn (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth [Schoolcraft C.C.]) with 8:37 left, the only points scored for nearly the next minutes came on a lay-in from Mateski to give Parkside a 13-point edge (66-53) with 7:21 left.

From there to the end, the Warriors' rally would only get to a nine-point deficit, as the Rangers matched WSU on nearly every basket.  WSU out-scored UWP 12-11 over the final 5:56, but it was not nearly enough to delete the 11-point halftime deficit.  One notable moment in the final stretch came from redshirt sophomore Adam Ayrault (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) who drained back-to-back three-pointers as part of a 6-0 run with five minutes to play.

TEAM STATS
Parkside's hot shooting led the hosts to the victory, as the Rangers shot 55 percent (30-of-55) from the field.  That compared to just 33 percent shooting (24-of-72) for the guests.  Wayne State did win the rebounding battle by nine (43-34), thanks to 20 offensive boards compared to UWP's five. Parkside distributed one more assist (12-11) and blocked two more shots (5-3) than the Warriors, while both teams acquired three steals to their credit.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Briggs led the way with 14 points, followed closely by Nweke with 13.  Those were the only two Warriors in double figures.  Briggs also made all eight free throws.  Thorn grabbed a season-best and game-high 12 rebounds, which was also the third straight game the junior hauled in 10 or more boards.  Nweke followed with 10 rebounds for his team-leading third double-double of the campaign.

LEADING THE RANGERS
Mateski led all scorers with 22 points, while Paxton Warden added 21.  Rose (12) and Fawaz Surakat (10) joined them in double figures.  Palmer dished out a game-best five assists.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will host Lake Superior State on Thursday with the opening tip inside the WSU Fieldhouse scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m.

 
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