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 Reggie Stallings scored a game-high 21 points vs. NMU. |
Dec. 6, 2008
DETROIT - The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (3-2 overall, 1-1 GLIAC) suffered a 68-67 setback to visiting Northern Michigan (5-1 overall, 1-1 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon at the Matthaei.
In a game that had 10 lead changes and five tied scores, the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run during a three-minute period (from 5:15 to 2:15) after the Warriors had taken a 60-57 lead a three-pointer by freshman Reggie Stallings (Flint, Mich./Carman-Ainsworth).
WSU missed two shots and had three turnovers during the stretch, while NMU had baskets by Tyler Kazmierkoski and Raymont McElroy to take the lead, followed by a conventional three-point play by McElroy and a jumper by Chris Warner to finish the run.
A tip-in by junior Bryan Edwards (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln) made it 66-62 with 1:44 left but Jared Benson answered with a fast break lay-up for NMU. Stallings made it a three-point game (68-65) with another triple with 78 seconds left.
Over the next 60 seconds, each team had two turnovers before NMU's Marc Renelique missed the front end of a one-and-one with 13 seconds left. Bryan Wright's (Warren, Ohio/Harding) triple try was short and Bryan Edwards' lay-up with 1.1 seconds left made it 68-67. WSU quickly called a timeout and NMU had to call its final timeout to avoid a five second call. After the Wildcat timeout, they were able to inbound the ball to end the game.
The biggest discrepancy on the stat page was in second chance points where NMU had a 22-8 advantage including a decisive 17-4 total in the opening 20 minutes.
Northern Michigan recorded 15 offensive rebounds to 20 defensive rebounds for Wayne State. In terms of total rebounds, NMU held a 39-29 advantage.
Stallings scored a game-high 21 points which included five triples. Shane Lawal (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup) had 19 points and six blocked shots, while Bryan Edwards had 12 points off the bench plus a team-best nine rebounds.
McElroy led four Wildcats in double figures with 18 points.
Wayne State shot 46 percent (26-56) while Northern Michigan made 45 percent (27-60). Both teams made six foul shots, and WSU had a nine-eight advantage in three-pointers made.
Wayne State plays its final non-conference game of the season on Monday at Eastern Michigan.
