Warriors tripped by lowly Chargers

WSU loses shot at home playoff game

Jeff Buck
Staff Writer

Despite leading 38-33 at halftime, the Wayne State men's basketball team fell 88-83 at Hillsdale on Saturday, failing to secure a home playoff game in the first round of the conference tournament.

After never leading in the first half, Hillsdale scored seven quick points off a Tim Homan 3-pointer and a pair of lay-ups to take a 40-38 lead.

Homan added another 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to help build the Chargers' lead to eight points.

"Clearly our execution was off," WSU head coach David Greer said. "They went on a 7-0 run to start the second half and got themselves back into the game.

"We clearly just didn't make enough plays. We had guys that were in position to make plays and didn't make plays.

"They were the more aggressive team, which was evident by them shooting 40 free throws and we shot 18."

The Warriors came out strong in the first half, jumping out to an 11-5 lead with Kris Krzyminski accounting for seven of those points.

WSU (13-12, 9-8 GLIAC) allowed Hillsdale to get within four before going on a 17-11 run to go up by as many as 12 points.

The Warriors went to the locker room leading by five, but four of their starting five players had committed two fouls apiece.

Fueled by Will Pierce and Wynn Sarden, the Warriors continued to claw back, finding themselves down by two after a Krzyminski lay-up with 7:14 remaining in the game.

WSU closed the gap to one before foul trouble set in and the Chargers retook control of the game, building their lead back up to nine points.

Foul trouble forced four players back to the bench and ruined the Warriors' last hopes at taking back the game.

"We're coached to be prepared for moments like that," guard Joe Carr said. "We have to handle adverse moments like that. With some credit to their team, we have to learn from our mistakes from this game and be ready for the playoffs."

Krzyminski finished the game with 21 points (7-of-13 from the field) with five assists and two steals in 40 minutes.

Jason Saddler led Wayne State with nine rebounds to complement his 14 points before fouling out late in the second half. Carr ended the night shooting 5-of-16 from the field, for 14 points in 33 minutes.

The Warriors shot 48.7 percent in the second half, while the Chargers connected on 61.5 percent of their shots in the half. WSU committed 12 more fouls than Hillsdale but held a 35-30 rebounding advantage.

WSU travels to Erie, Penn. to face Mercyhurst for a first-round GLIAC tournament game on Tuesday.

The South End, February 26, 2007