Jan. 30, 2006

Wayne State (8-10, 3-7 GLIAC) at
#9 Findlay (18-2, 10-1 GLIAC)
Ashland (15-6, 7-4 GLIAC)
Feb. 2 - 7:30 pm & Feb. 4 - 3:00 pm

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 GAME STORYLINES
As Super Bowl XL comes to Detroit, the Wayne State men's basketball team hits the road for two GLIAC South Division contests that have extra-large implications on WSU's post-season hopes. WSU travels to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's hometown of Findlay, looking to snap the nation's longest active home winning streak of 35 games on Thursday night before heading to Ashland on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors have already ended one long home winning streak (26) this season when they beat West Virginia State, 85-79, in the season opener.

WSU defeated AU in overtime earlier this season when the Eagles were 25th in the country, but fell to the then-ranked No. 11 Oilers in double OT. Wayne State's Herb Goliday posted double-doubles in both of the games in Detroit. The redshirt senior had 17 points, 13 rebounds vs. AU, and 14 points, 10 rebounds against the Oilers.

The Warriors will return to the Motor City on Feb. 9 (Mercyhurst) and Feb. 11 (Gannon) for two more divisional match-ups.

 SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The University of Findlay has won its last 14 games, and hasn't lost since Dec. 3 at Northern Michigan. Senior guard Dustin Pfeifer leads three players in double digits at 13.4 points per game. He also ranks second in the GLIAC in assists (5.80) and steals (3.20).

The Eagles are 3-3 in their last six games, a stretch that started in Detroit. AU, the GLIAC's highest scoring team, lost its last two games (vs. GVSU and FSU) by an average of 20.5 ppg. The Eagles' three wins were by a combined 14 points. Justin Brown is the second-leading scorer in the conference (17.6) and is listed at third in rebounding (10.1).

 ON THE BENCH
David Greer is in his fifth year at Wayne State and has a 76-60 record. Ron Niekamp is in his 21st season with the Oilers and owns a 450-164 record. Ashland's Roger Lyons is 204-146 in 14 seasons at his alma mater.

 IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was tied with Gannon for second place in the South Division of the GLIAC coaches' preseason poll. AU was picked fifth with nine points while Findlay earned four first-place votes and 24 points in first place. Regionally, the Oilers are fifth and Ashland ranks ninth.

 THE SERIES
Wayne State leads in both series: 19-15 against the Eagles and 13-12 over the Oilers.

 LAST GAME NOTES
Wayne State's men's basketball team relied on defense to break its four-game losing streak and defeat Lake Superior State, 68-50, on Jan. 28 at the Matthaei. The Warriors had 50 rebounds, 12 steals, eight blocks and forced 20 LSSU turnovers on the day.

Senior Erik Parker scored the first two buckets of the game for a 4-0 lead. The Warriors held Lake State scoreless for the first 5:35 as the Lakers missed their first seven shots.

Lake Superior made it a one-point game at 6-5, but the Warriors went on a 12-point run that included five points by junior guard Kris Krzyminski and four Jacob Black points, all after he drew a hard charging call. The run continued as Ethan Banks drained a three with 8:39 on the clock that put WSU up 18-5.

LSSU scored eight straight points, but Wayne State came back with another Banks trey and a fast-break layup by Will Pierce. After the Lakers hit a three, Pierce had a clean block on what looked to be a wide-open layup by LSSU. Then Krzyminski's second three of the half put WSU up 28-18 with 2:37 left in the half.

The half ended as junior Anthony Ighodaro hit a three to put WSU up 35-22 at the break.

After Banks knocked down his third three-pointer of the game, Herb Goliday had six consecutive points and a block for a 46-26 lead with 15:48 to go.

Following a nine-point Laker run, junior center Jeffrey Ferguson stole the ball under his own basket and threw down a two-handed dunk. A few minutes later, Krzyminski had a steal and threw an alley-oop pass to Ferguson who reached back to slam in an impressive one-handed dunk. Ferguson and Krzyminski each finished with 12 points.

Goliday scored eight of the Warriors' final 13 points as they rolled to the 18-point victory. Goliday had his fourth double-double of the season as he led all players 16 points and 12 rebounds in just 28 minutes of play.

Wayne State, who leads the GLIAC in foul shooting, hit 82.4 percent (14-of-17) at the line, while the Lakers made just 3-of-10 (30.0 percent) of their free throws.