 Warriors Win GLIAC Tournament Championship Big Rapids, Mich. - The Wayne State University men's basketball team (22-7 overall) won its first GLIAC tournament title since 1999 with a last second 73-71 triumph at Ferris State University (22-7 overall) Sunday afternoon. Sophomore guard Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich.) tipped in a missed Warrior shot with 1.5 seconds left to put WSU ahead and Bulldog Kenny Brown's half-court shot was off the mark. Hollingsworth was named to the GLIAC All-Tournament team along with Findlay's Nathan Hyde, Michigan Tech's Ali Haidar, and Ferris State's Justin Keenan and Darien Gay. WSU senior guard Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich./Northern) was voted to the tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring 51 points in Wayne State's three post-season victories. The first half was a see-saw affair with four lead changes and five tied scores. WSU had the largest advantage (8, 32-24) with 4:11 left, but FSU closed the opening 20 minutes on an 11-4 run. Seven different players scored for the Warriors before intermission led by eight each from Hollingsworth and senior forward Jerry Oden (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech). WSU shot 53 percent (16-of-30) from the floor while limiting FSU to 36 percent (10-of-28). Keenan had 10 points but was just 2-of-7 from the field. Wayne State tallied the first five points of the second half with junior guard Dale Brundidge (Southfield, Mich./Detroit Country Day) hitting a jumper and adding a pair of foul shots. A Hollingsworth jumper on an in-bounds play at the 16:40 mark gave the Warriors an eight point lead (45-37). WSU's lead remained between six and eight points until an 8-2 Bulldog run cut the visitors advantage to two (51-49) with 12:51 remaining. Wayne State's lead was between two and five points for the next four minutes until junior guard Stacey Waters (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) drained a long triple just as the shot clock was about to expire pushing the lead to six (61-55) with 8:46 left. FSU responded with a 7-0 spurt to take its first lead since 16-15. After a Hollingsworth free throw tied the game at 62, Keenan made a pair of foul shots. Hollingsworth answered at the other end with a jumper in the paint. Two more Keenan free throws preceded a triple by Hollingsworth with 2:41 left. Keenan went to the foul line again and split a pair to tie the game at 67 with 2:16 remaining. Hollingsworth went to the foul line as Matt DeHart was whistled for an over-the-back call on Keenan's missed free throw. Hollingsworth sank both shots from the charity stripe to put the Warriors ahead 69-67 also at the 2:16 mark as the clock did not move on the missed free throw by FSU. A jumper by Brown with 59.6 seconds left tied the game at 69. Brundidge's lay-up regained the WSU lead at the 25.7 mark. Keenan answered at the other end with exactly 10.0 seconds remaining setting up the final sequences. FSU only made three field goals in the final seven minutes, meanwhile Hollingsworth tallied 10 of WSU's final 12 points. Hollingsworth finished with a team-high 22 points and a game-best 15 rebounds. Smothers contributed 11 points and nine assists. Keenan led all scorers with 25 points (6-15 FG, 13-17 FT) as he attempted just three free throws less than the Warriors squad. Courtesy of WSU GLIAC Tournament Final: Wayne State - Ferris State 73-71 GLIAC Tournament Semifinals: Ferris State - Michigan Tech 73-64 Wayne State - Findlay 73-64 Player of the Year: Justin Keenan (6'7''-F/C-88) of Ferris St. All-Tournament MVP: Bryan Smothers (5'10''-G-88) of Wayne St., MI Freshman of the Year: Joe Graessle (6'3''-G-92) of Tiffin Coach of the Year: Bill Sall of Ferris St. All-Tournament Team Bryan Smothers (5'10''-G-88) of Wayne St., MI Nathan Hyde (6'3''-G-88) of Findlay (OH) Ali Haidar (6'7''-F-90) of Michigan Tech Darien Gay (5'10''-G-89) of Ferris St. Mike Hollingsworth (6'1''-G) of Wayne St., MI Justin Keenan (6'7''-F/C-88) of Ferris St.
1st Team G: Greg Foster (6'2''-89) of Saginaw Valley G: Darien Gay (5'10''-89) of Ferris St. F: Ali Haidar (6'7''-90) of Michigan Tech F/C: Justin Keenan (6'7''-88) of Ferris St. G/F: Justin Ringler (6'4'') of Grand Valley St. 2nd Team C: Jared Benson (6'10''-89) of N.Michigan F: Mike Hojnacki (6'7''-90) of Michigan Tech G: Kyle Hunt (6'3'') of L.Superior G: James Thomas (6'2'') of Grand Valley St. G/F: Lou Williams (6'7'') of Ferris St. All-Defensive Team Dontae Molden (5'11''-G) of Ferris St. Justin Ringler (6'4''-G/F) of Grand Valley St. Alvin Storrs (6'2''-G) of Grand Valley St. Chris Webb (6'1''-G-91) of Saginaw Valley Lou Williams (6'7''-G/F) of Ferris St.
1st Team G: Kyle Caiola (5'11''-90) of Mass.-Lowell G: Brent Eaton (6'5''-89) of Wisc.-Green Bay G: Mike Hollingsworth (6'1'') of Wayne St., MI G: Nathan Hyde (6'3''-88) of Findlay (OH) G: Bryan Smothers (5'10''-88) of Wayne St., MI 2nd Team G: Ethan Bradshaw (6'1''-87) of Lake Erie G: Tyler Gerber (5'10''-90) of Hillsdale G: Aaron Gibbs (6'3''-88) of Presbyterian F: Kale Richardson (6'8''-87) of Ashland C: Evan Yates (6'6'') of Ashland All-Defensive Team Tyler Gerber (5'10''-G-90) of Hillsdale Nick Meinert (6'2''-G) of Hillsdale Aaron Robinson (6'2''-G-90) of Findlay (OH) Bryan Smothers (5'10''-G-88) of Wayne St., MI Ike Udanoh (6'8''-C-89) of LIU Brooklyn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Men
Women
Subscribe
Login
