Wayne State Advances to the GLIAC Tournament Final

Release courtesy of Jeff Weiss, WSU Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations

BIG RAPIDS, Mich. — The Wayne State University men's basketball team (21-7 overall) advanced to Sunday's GLIAC tournament championship game with a 73-64 triumph over ninth-ranked University of Findlay (24-4) in Saturday's second semifinal game at Ferris State.

Click here for the GLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament page

Saturday's contest was the rubber-match as WSU and UF split the regular-season series, each winning at home (WSU by 23 points; UF by 2 points).

The Oilers led nearly the entire first half except 1-0 for 30 seconds and 28-27 for the last second as freshman forward Geral Williams-Taylor (Flint, Mich. / Northern) scored down low in the final seconds.

UF led by as many as eight points (13-5) in the opening 20 minutes.  Both teams shot 36 percent (WSU 9-25, UF 10-28) prior to intermission.  Findlay made three triples but was just 4-of-9 from the charity stripe.  Meanwhile, the Warriors did not make a three-pointers but connected on 10-of-14 from the foul line.  UF's Nathan Hyde led all scorers with 12 points at halftime.

Early in the second half, the game was a see-saw affair with seven lead changes in the 3:10, with WSU holding the largest lead at three points (32-29) following a fast-break lay-up by senior center Ike Udanoh (Detroit, Mich. / Warren Woods Tower) at the 19:00 mark.

After a lay-up by senior forward Jerry Oden (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) knotted the game at 38, Wayne State took the lead for good on a free throw by sophomore guard Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich.).  Findlay missed a jumper and Udanoh scored down low increasing the Warrior lead to three (41-38).

Following a UF bucket, WSU had a 5-0 run on a fast-break lay-up by junior guard Dale Brundidge (Southfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day), a free throw by sophomore forward Iam Larkin (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) and a jumper by Udanoh.

The Oilers scored the next four points cutting the WSU lead to two (46-44), but the Warriors answered with five consecutive points, all from the foul line for a 51-44 advantage at the 10:55 mark.

UF's Jack Smith hit a jumper, but Wayne State tallied the next three points for an eight-point advantage, its largest of the game to that point.

The Warriors lead was cut to three on two different occasions (61-58 and 63-60), but after the second instance Wayne State responded with a 6-0 run on a jumper by senior guard Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich. / Northern), and offensive rebound and dunk by Hollingsworth, and a pair of free throws by Smothers, who connected on all 12 of his attempts from the charity stripe in the second half.

The WSU defense was outstanding down the stretch holding Findlay to one made field goal in the final 4:20.  In fact during the second half, Wayne State made one more field goal than the Oilers in five less attempts.

Smothers finished with a game-high 20 points to lead four Warriors in double figures.  Oden contributed 12 points, while Hollingsworth added 11 and Larkin chipped in with 10 off the bench.  Oden and Larkin tied for team-high rebounding honors with eight.

Hyde led UF with 18 points, while Kyle Caiola added 17.  Aaron Robinson led all rebounders with nine boards.

Wayne State had advantages in points in the paint (36-22), second-chance points (13-11), fast break points (12-2) and bench points (16-12).

The win was Wayne State's first GLIAC semifinal victory since 2005, when the Warriors claimed a five-point triumph (68-63) over Ferris State at Findlay.  Today's win was vs. Findlay at Ferris State.

WSU will be looking for its first GLIAC tournament title since 1999, while Ferris State won its only GLIAC tournament title in 1998.