 |
 Herb Goliday scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half. |
Feb. 24, 2005
ERIE, Pa. - Wayne State came back from a 10-point halftime deficit and held Gannon to just six second half field goals to come away with a 57-53 win in a battle of regionally-ranked teams at the Hammermill Center Thursday night. The Warriors (16-10, 10-6 GLIAC) are now a half-game behind GU for second place in the South Division and control their own post-season destiny, and with a win at Mercyhurst Saturday, will host the Golden Knights (18-9, 11-6 GLIAC) in a GLIAC Quarterfinal Tuesday night. The win also snaps WSU's three-game losing streak at the `Mill in Erie.
The Warriors started off cold as they missed on their first six trips down the floor as GU took a 5-0 lead in the opening minutes of play. Senior point guard Darrell Evans (Detroit, Mich.) dished off to Herb Goliday (Royal Oak Twp., Mich.) for WSU's first points at the 16:08 mark. After a missed Golden Knight layup, Goliday pulled down an offensive rebound and fed Morris Hall (Detroit, Mich.) for a game-tying three-pointer.
The Golden Knights struck back with consecutive three-pointers and continued onto a 13-4 run over the next six minutes. Moments later, junior Ethan Banks (Warren, Ohio) hit a three that cut the lead to six points at 20-14 with 6:18 left in the first half, but GU increased its lead up to 13 with fast-break baskets and a three-pointer with 1:27 to go before the half.
Banks hit another trey just before the buzzer, but Gannon held a 33-23 lead to mark Warriors' second-lowest first half total of the season.
WSU started the second half off with a one-handed dunk by Erik Parker (Oak Park, Mich.). GU scored a bucket in the paint, but Goliday pulled down another offensive rebounded and converted a three-point play to bring the Warriors with seven.
The teams exchange four-point runs but WSU didn't go away so easy as Banks' third three and Hall's second trey of the game made it a four-point game, 42-38, with 13:41 remaining.
After Goliday got a steal and called a timeout while falling out of bounds, he hit a turn-around jumper to pull his squad within two points. Then an Evans steal and dish to Goliday tied the game with 11:34 left.
GU turned the ball over its next possession and the Warriors took their first lead of the night as Goliday took it to the hole with 10:15 to play. The tenacious WSU defense forced a shot-clock violation and Hall got his three-point shot off as the 35-second buzzer went off for a 47-42 lead as the Warriors started the second half on a 24-9 run and held GU scoreless for nearly eight minutes.
With under four minutes to play, Goliday continued his hot hand with a baseline runner to give WSU a seven-point cushion. Three Wayne State offensive rebounds in a row allowed the Warriors to run off almost two minutes of the clock before Gannon got the ball back.
Geoff Husted hit Gannon's first field goal in over 13 minutes and made a foul shot, cutting the Warrior lead down to two with 1:12 on the clock. Evans connected on both free throws of a one-and-one situation before Husted made another basket.
Hall's jumper with 16.2 seconds remaining put WSU up by four. Gannon missed a three, but the rebound went off the Warriors. On the inbound play, Goliday got a steal and was foul. He made both free throws with four seconds left to seal the win.
Goliday scored more points (11) in the first 15 minutes of the second half then the entire Gannon squad did and finished with a game-best 21 points and career-high five assists. Hall added 18 points for WSU and Parker led all players with eight rebounds.
Evans, who ranks second in the nation in assists, needs just seven more to tie the season record of 200 set by Terrance Walker in the 1993-94 season.
