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 Senior Morris Hall had 19 points and was named to the all-tournament team. |
March 5, 2005
FINDLAY, Ohio - Wayne State's men's basketball team lost 87-64 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship game to No. 2 Findlay (27-3) on Saturday night at a sold out Croy Gymnasium where UF has won 23 consecutive games. Senior guards Morris Hall and Darrell Evans were selected to the All-GLIAC Tournament Team. The Warriors (19-11) will continue their season in the NCAA Tournament next weekend at a site to be announced Sunday night.
The Oilers came out to a 4-0 lead, but baskets by senior Morris Hall (Detroit, Mich.) and junior Herb Goliday (Royal Oak Twp., Mich.) tied the game. Findlay's Matt Metzger then hit three three-pointers and scored 14 points in the first 10 minutes of the game as the Oilers led 27-10.
The Warriors went on a 6-2 run by forcing turnovers and scoring on fast-break buckets, but UF finished the first half on an 18-5 run as it shot 62.5 percent from the floor and held a 47-21 advantage going into the locker room.
Goliday hit a pair of field goals and got a steal to begin the second half. WSU senior guard Darrell Evans (Detroit, Mich.) then made three layups in less than three minutes, but the Oilers' hot shooting extended their lead to 29.
The Warriors wouldn't give up as Hall connected on a three-point play then followed with a triple with 9:25 to play. He had a team-high 19 
points in the game and needs six three-pointers to break the season mark of 78 held by Charles LeSure from 1999-2000.
Goliday then scored on a fast-break layup and an inbound steal at the 4:30 mark to give him 18 straight games in double digits as he finished with 13 points in the contest.
Senior Tariq Mills (Cincinnati, Ohio) added 11 points and game-high seven rebounds off the bench for WSU.
WSU outscored Findlay, 43-40, in the second half and outrebounded the Oilers 37-25 for the game.
Wayne State did set the tournament series record for free throw percentage at 80.8 percent (42-of-52) in its three games and junior center Erik Parker (Oak Park, Mich.) made a series record 83.3 percent (10-of-12) of his shots from the floor.
Metzger, who finished with 19 points, earned the tournament MVP as the all-tournament team was rounded out by Findlay's Dustin Pfeifer, Chris Commons and Josh Buettner of Michigan Tech.
With their performance in the league tournament, the Warriors have locked-up a spot in their second straight NCAA Tournament. Their seeding in the Great Lakes Region will be announced during the NCAA Selection Show Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. Click here for the viewing options.
