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 Ethan Banks had a career-high 17 points. |
Dec. 21, 2004
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. - On the first day of winter, the WSU men's basketball team (5-4) was hampered by cold shooting in a 72-60 loss to No. 19 Southern Indiana (6-3) on day two of the 2004 Lions Club Holiday Classic, hosted by Ferris State University. The Warriors shot just 25.8 percent compared to USI's 47.1 as the Screaming Eagles improved their record to 4-0 all-time against Wayne State.
Down 3-0 early, junior Herb Goliday (Royal Oak Twp., Mich.) got WSU on the board with a 15-foot jumper and senior Morris Hall (Detroit, Mich.) followed with a three-pointer for a 5-3 lead.
The Screaming Eagles took a 9-5 lead on a three-point play, but sophomore forward Dwayne Jones (Inkster, Mich.) came back with one of his own with 16:49 on the clock.
USI took advantage of early fouls and the Warriors went scoreless for four minutes as the Eagles and took a 15-8 lead but Erik Parker (Oak Park, Mich.) made a pair of foul shots and Jones completed his second three-point play of the half to bring WSU within two at 15-13 with 12:10 left on the clock.
Southern Indiana started to pull away as it went on a 10-1 run over the next five minutes until Warrior freshman Rob Igbawua (Belleville, Mich.) hit a turn-around jumper. WSU was just 5-of-22 in the first 14 minutes of the half as USI increased its lead to 12 points.
Back-to-back Wayne State three-pointers by junior Ethan Banks (Warren, Ohio) and senior Darrell Evans (Detroit, Mich.) brought WSU within six, 31-25, but Southern Indiana hit a three with time winding down to hold a nine-point halftime lead.
USI's Jeff Van Winkle made two quick three-pointers to extend the lead to 45-31 early in the second half. The Warriors did not make a field goal for the first six minutes of the half until Banks went on a 7-0 run of his own and cut the deficit to seven with 12:51 on the clock.
The Eagles went back up by 13 when Goliday converted a three-point play. The teams exchanged buckets and foul shots as the USI lead remained at double digits. Banks' three-pointer and two free throws with 5:14 left cut the score to 65-58, but the Screaming Eagles went back up by 10 and held on for the win.
Banks finished with a career-high and game-high 17 points and seven rebounds in just 21 minutes of play. Evans added 14 points, six assists and five rebounds as he played all 40 minutes.
The Warriors did make 22-of-24 free throws (91.7 percent) in the game, including all 17 in the second half.
Wayne State will face a ranked team for the third time in fourth games as the Warriors travel to Brookings, S.D., to play 10th-ranked Nebraska-Omaha in the Burger King Holiday Classic on Dec. 28.
