March 1, 2005

Stats

DETROIT - The third time was the charm as Wayne State's men's basketball team defeated visiting Gannon University, 75-70, in Tuesday night's GLIAC Quarterfinal battle at the Matthaei. The Warriors, who lost at GU in the last two quarterfinals, will make their first GLIAC Semifinal appearance since 1999 as they face No. 19 Ferris State Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Findlay, Ohio. Senior point guard Darrell Evans (Detroit, Mich.) set the school's single-season assist record with 205 as he finished with nine on the night.

Both teams went to the post for their first points, but moved outside the paint as Gannon hit a three. After WSU center Erik Parker (Oak Park, Mich.) blocked Geoff Husted, Herb Goliday (Royal Oak Twp., Mich.) scored on consecutive buckets for a 6-5 lead.

The Golden Knights used precise foul shooting, making all 12 of their free throws in the first half, to grab a 25-19 lead with 11 minutes to go in the half, when Evans hit a jumper falling to his left. Junior Ethan Banks (Warren, Ohio) then found an opening in the lane and Morris Hall (Detroit, Mich.) hit his second three of the game to close the gap to one, 27-26, with 8:32 remaining.

GU's first half lead ranged from three to six points over the remainder of the half until a give-and-go inbound play with Hall feeding Evans and back to Hall for a three with 5.9 seconds left brought the halftime score to 41-39 with Gannon on top.

Parker tied the game on the first play of the second half with a dunk from an assist from Evans. Only fitting, Evans' record-setting 201st assist was on a fast-break layup by Hall at the 18:23 mark of the second half. Then Banks converted a three-point play from an Evans assist that put WSU up by three with 17:51 on the clock.

Another Parker one-handed slam evened the score at 56, but Gannon scored on back-to-back triples to take a 62-56 lead with 10:31 to go.

The Warriors took advantage of an offensive charge call on Husted, turning it into a Goliday three-point play as he was fouled by Husted, his fourth, with 6:38 on the clock.

WSU's defense stepped up the intensity as it forced a shot clock violation 5:15 to go. Wayne State pressed GU into 16 turnovers while only committing eight. Then with the score tied at 65 just under four minutes to play, Hall rattled in his fifth three-pointer of the contest.

Gannon grabbed a 69-68 lead with 2:20 to play, but were held to just one more point the rest of the way as Evans drove and dished off to Goliday for a 72-70 and the six-foot guard then pulled down the defensive rebound off Husted's missed jumper. A free throw by Hall put WSU up by three, then senior Tariq Mills (Cincinnati, Ohio) stepped in a blocked Joe Rivera's three with 30 seconds left to put a stamp on the victory.

All five Warrior starters scored in double figures led by Hall who had 20, Goliday added 18 and a team-high eight rebounds.

With the win, WSU moves into great position to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.