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 Ethan Banks had two three-pointers Thursday night. |
Dec. 1, 2005
ERIE, Pa. - Wayne State opened up the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule with a 53-48 loss at South Division rival Gannon Thursday night at the Hammermill Center. The Golden Knights (3-4, 1-1 GLIAC) out-rebounded WSU (2-2, 0-1 GLIAC) by a 39-26 margin that led to 15 second-chance points.
Senior Herb Goliday (Royal Oak Twp., Mich.) scored two baskets to start the game that put WSU up 4-3, but he didn't play the rest of the half after picking two quick fouls in the first three minutes.
Gannon grabbed a quick before junior Will Pierce (Detroit, Mich.) answered with a trey. Following a Golden Knight three-pointer by Bobby Bossman, Wayne State junior center Jeffrey Ferguson (Toronto, Ont.) scored on a transition basket then stepped out to hit a three and give WSU a 13-12 margin with 12:24 left before the half.
A pair of three-pointers by senior Ethan Banks (Warren, Ohio) tied the game at 19 with 9:25 on the clock. The Golden Knights then went on a 6-1 run over the next four minutes until Pierce found Rob Igbawua (Belleville, Mich.) under the basket for a bucket to make it 27-24 with Gannon ahead. After a GU layup and an Igbawua jumper, neither team scored the final 4:42 of the half.
The squads both got back in a rhythm after the break as Banks hit a jumper with his foot on the line to give WSU a 32-31 lead with 17:01 left. Ferguson then used a nice spin move and threw down a two-hand dunk to increase the margin to three points.
A three-point Gannon play on the next possession tied the contest. The Knights went on to rattle off four more in a row until Goliday scored a second-chance bucket and Curt Gilmore (Detroit, Mich.) got a steal and easy fast-break dunk for a 38-37 lead with 12:51 left.
The tight WSU defense triggered another steal, this one by Banks, and the Warriors pushed up the floor for a Kris Krzyminski (Flint, Mich.) layup, forcing GU's first-year head coach John Reilly into calling a full timeout. Pressure defense by Gilmore caused Gannon to call its final timeout just seconds later with 11:51 remaining.
The Knights regained the lead on a 10-2 run, forcing WSU into a timeout down 48-44 with 4:36 left in the game.
Goliday's shot off the glass made it a one-point game with 1:22 left, but GU's Demondi Johnson hit a three on the other end of play. Following one Gannon free throw, Wayne State couldn't get another basket and fell for the third time in the last four trips to the Hammermill Center.
Goliday (12) and Banks (10) were the leading scores for WSU. Gannon had three different players with nine points.
The Warriors remain in Erie for a Saturday afternoon match-up at Mercyhurst College.
