Feb. 14, 2005

Stats

DETROIT - Wayne State pulled off its biggest regular-season upset in school history with a 79-72 win over No. 2 Findlay on the Warriors' home court Valentine's Day. With the victory, the Warriors, ranked sixth in the Great Lakes Region, secured a spot in the GLIAC Tournament and improve to 15-8, 9-4 GLIAC, while the region's top-ranked team Findlay falls to 21-3, 14- 1 GLIAC as the Oilers' 14-game winning streak comes to an end.

Junior center Erik Parker (Oak Park, Mich.) finally put the Warriors on the board four minutes into the game, but Findlay already led 12-2 thanks to 10 points by center Chris Commons.

Junior Ethan Banks (Warren, Ohio) knocked down a three and pulled down a defensive rebound that led to a dunk by Herb Goliday (Royal Oak Twp., Mich.). Goliday then hit a three and another dunk to bring the Warriors with one point. After an Oiler turnover, a Dwayne Jones (Inkster, Mich.) second-chance bucket gave WSU its first lead of the game with 11:49 left in the half.

Banks got the friendly home bounce on another triple and Darrell Evans hit a three-pointer for a 22-17 lead, forcing Findlay to take a timeout with 10:16 on the clock. The Warriors continued their hot shooting with a three by Hall for an eight-point lead. After an Oiler bucket, WSU senior Tariq Mills (Cincinnati, Ohio) converted an old fashion three-point play of his own for a 30-21 lead with 8:30 to go.

But the Great Lakes Region's top-ranked team came back, scoring nine straight points to tie the game with 3:30 left in the first. The teams exchanged baskets and missed shots until Hall hit a three with just under a minute to play and Evans made a running layup as time expired for a 39-34 halftime lead.

Evans and Hall teamed up to start the second half with an inbound play for an easy layup by Hall. Hall then dished off to Parker for another nine-point WSU lead. The Warriors upped their lead to 10 points when Hall got the pass from Evans for his third three of the game.

Findlay went on a 7-0 run ended by an offensive put-back by Goliday. Moments later, Goliday hit back-to-back buckets from Evans put the WSU's cushion back up to seven. Great ball movement all around found Banks for an open three and Hall dished off to Goliday, forcing UF to call a timeout down by nine with 6:14 left.

Evans drove the hole and spotted Hall for another three, Evans' record-tying 13th assist of the night, putting WSU up 66-55. Once again, the Oilers ran off seven straight points, but the Warriors made 11-of-12 free throws in the final 1:04 to come away with the crucial win.

Goliday finished with 21 points and Hall added 18 for the Warriors who have won three in a row now.

Wayne State continues its four-game homestand as it hosts Ashland Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.