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 Morris Hall hit a career-best six three-pointers in WSU's win. |
Dec. 29, 2004
BROOKINGS, S.D. - Senior Morris Hall (Detroit, Mich.) hit a career-high six three-pointers to lead the Warrior men's hoops team (6-5) to a 71-62 win over Division I South Dakota State University (2-10) on the final day of the Burger King Holiday Classic at SDSU's Frost Arena Wednesday night.
Wayne State opened the game with a basket by senior Darrell Evans (Detroit, Mich.) and a pair of blocks on the defensive end by Erik Parker (Oak Park, Mich.) and Dwayne Jones (Inkster, Mich.) for a 2-0 lead, but the Jackrabbits rattled off seven straight points for a quick lead. Hall retaliated by scoring five straight for the Warriors to tie the game at seven. Wayne State then went up 16-12 on a three-pointer by Hall with 11:14 left in the first half.
SDSU was then called for an intentional foul at the 9:14 mark as Evans and Hall were on the fast break. Hall made both free throws and freshman Cortney Jennings (Kalamazoo, Mich.) scored on the inbound play from Evans for a 21-13 WSU advantage.
The Warriors extended their lead and continued to shoot extremely well with junior Ethan Banks (Warren, Ohio) draining a three for a nine-point lead with 7:07 left. After SDSU scored three points, back-to-back three-pointers by Hall and Banks broadened the gap to 32-22 moments later.
South Dakota State went on a 7-2 run until Evans found Tariq Mills (Cincinnati, Ohio) for a bucket in the paint, then Evans forced a Jack turnover that led to an Evans lay-up. Mills then blocked an SDSU shot as the Warriors went into the locker room up 38-29 as seven different players contributed to the scoring and WSU shot 56.0 percent in the first 20 minutes.
Evans started the second half with a couple of assists to Herb Goliday (Royal Oak Twp., Mich.) and Jones. He then took the game into his own hands with a lay-up and Banks followed with a basket that gave WSU a 46-32 lead.
SDSU started to rally with a 19-6 sprint that cut the deficit to one point, 52-51, with 7:48 left. The Jackrabbits completed the comeback as they tied the game with just over six minutes to play, but Banks knocked down his third trey of the night to put WSU back up.
An offensive put-back by Goliday and consecutive three-pointers by Hall pushed the Warrior lead back up to 65-58 and gave them a little breathing room with 3:07 remaining.
Hall put the dagger in the Jackrabbits' heart with his sixth three, one shy of the school record, and the Warriors defense held SDSU to just two points in the final 2:44 of the game.
Hall, who was named to the all-tournament team, tied his career-high with 22 points as Evans recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. Banks and Goliday added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Warriors return to Detroit and GLIAC action as they host Michigan Tech on Jan. 6 in a live-televised game on Comcast Local.
