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 Freshman Cortney Jennings had nine points, four rebounds and four steals. |
Dec. 11, 2004
HILLSDALE, Mich. - Wayne State's four-game winning streak came to an end as the Warriors lost to Hillsdale for the fourth consecutive time in a 67-58 defeat on Saturday, Dec. 11 at the Jesse Philips Arena. The loss is Wayne State's (4-2, 2-1 GLIAC) first in conference play as the Chargers (4-3, 2-0) remain unbeated in the league.
The pace was set early as Herb Goliday (Royal Oak Twp., Mich./CMU) blocked Hillsdale's first shot and junior center Erik Parker (Oak Park, Mich./Alpena CC) scored on the other end. An offensive rebound by Darrell Evans (Detroit, Mich./Mott CC) transformed into a three-pointer by freshman Cortney Jennings (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central). Jennings scored again right away on transition for a 7-0 lead.
WSU held the Chargers scoreless for the first 4:30 of the game. Morris Hall (Detroit, Mich./Mott CC) then drove the lane and laid up a floater over Hillsdale's 7-0 center Chris Skaggs and made a free throw moments later for a 12-4 lead.
Hillsdale then went on a 12-point run over the next 3:39 until sophomore Dwayne Jones (Inkster, Mich./Lemoyne-Owen) got the feed from Parker for a lay-up with 9:58 on the clock.
HC led by as many as 13 points in the first half as the three-pointers just kept falling for the Chargers. The Warriors began to climb back with baskets by Jones and Jennings, but Hillsdale, who shot 52.4 percent from the floor, held a 34-24 advantage at the break.
WSU cut the deficit to seven with 13:50 left in the game on an Ashanti Burk (Mississauga, Ont./Fordham) free throw and another floater by Hall. After a Charger basket, Evans forced a turnover and found a wide-open Hall for an easy lay-up.
A 19-4 run by the Chargers gave them the largest lead of the game at 60-38 with 7:08 left. WSU started to come back with a 12-2 rally over the next three minutes as the defense started to pressure poor shots and turnovers by Hillsdale.
WSU came within nine, 63-54, on a Parker put-back, but HC made 18-of-24 free throws to hold on for the win.
Hall led the Warriors with 18 points as Parker added 12 and Jennings had a career-high nine points.
Wayne State's next five games are all against opponents that made the 2004 NCAA Tournament, starting with the nation's top-ranked team, Virginia Union, at home on Saturday, Dec. 18.
