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 Senior Morris Hall had a career-high 23 points Thursday night. |
Jan. 6, 2005
DETROIT - For the third time in two years, the Wayne State men's basketball team has defeated a ranked Michigan Tech squad, this time the Warriors won 64-60 over the No. 22 Huskies on Thursday night in Detroit as senior Morris Hall (Detroit, Mich.) scored a career-high 23 points. WSU improves to 7-5 overall and 3-1 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference while Tech drops to 9-3, 2-2.
MTU jumped out to an 8-2 lead early in the first half and led by as many as nine points. WSU junior Ethan Banks (Warren, Ohio/) then hit a pair of three-pointers on back-to-back possessions and Hall also drained one as the Warriors climbed within four, 23-19, with 9:36 left in the half.
The Huskies went back up by nine with just over a minute to play before the break and owned a 36-28 advantage going into the locker room.
Tech's hot shooting continued as second half play started, going 5-for-7 in the first five minutes of the half, and taking an 11-point lead. The Huskies were up by nine with 12:37 left when the Warriors made their run and Tech went cold. WSU rattled off 12 straight points with Hall converting on a three-point play followed by a three-pointer. Senior guard Darrell Evans (Detroit, Mich./) then scored on a slashing layup and freshman Cortney Jennings (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) put the pressure on with a steal at mid-court that ended in a Jennings one-handed dunk to give WSU its first lead of the game with 10:52 remaining.
A three by Evans gave Wayne State a six-point cushion as Tech missed 6-of-7 from the floor during the Warriors' run. After a jumper by senior Tariq Mills (Cincinnati, Ohio) at the 5:02 mark, neither team scored until Tech's Josh Buettner hit a jumper with just 55 seconds left.
The Huskies came within two in the final minute, but Banks calmly sank a pair of foul shots with four seconds left to hold on for the win.
The Warriors defeated Tech, 53-48, in Houghton during the regular season before beating them, 57-54, in the Great Lakes Regional Semifinal.
The game was aired live on Comcast Local (Channel 8) and will be replayed Jan. 7 at 6:00 am and 4:00 pm as well as Jan. 8 at 9:00 pm. WSU hosts Northern Michigan on Saturday at 3:00 pm.
