 |
 Senior Kendon Edwards had his second double-double. |
Dec. 6, 2003
DETROIT - In an emotion-filled gym and jam-packed crowd of 818, the WSU men's basketball team defeated Lake Superior State, 82-75, in GLIAC action on Justin Chapman Day (Dec. 6). Chapman's No. 24 became the first WSU basketball jersey to be retired in the program's 87-year history. The Warriors' record improves to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the league as LSSU falls to 3-3, 0-2.
The Warriors jumped out of the gates with a purpose, leading by seven (16-9) on an Ethan Banks (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) layup at the 13:12 mark. Junior Darrell Evans (Detroit, Mich./Redford) made a leaping save out-of-bounds to James Davis (Detroit, Mich./TCU) who drained a wide-open three with 11:26 on the clock.
WSU continued to push as senior guard Kendall LeSure (Detroit, Mich./Pershing) knocked down back-to-back three-pointers from Evans to give the Warriors a 35-21 advantage with 6:19 remaining in the first half. Wayne State went into the break with a 46-38 lead.
After the halftime ceremony (Photo Gallery), Lake State cut the lead to five on its first basket. But WSU went on a 9-3 run as Davis grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to give the Warriors they largest lead of the game, 72-55, with 10:37 left.
With 32 seconds left, LSSU was within four points (79-75), but an Evans foul shot followed by two of Oscar Sanders ' (River Rouge, Mich./Danville Area C.C.) free throws sealed the win for the Warriors.
WSU held a 15-1 advantage on the boards through the first 13 minutes of the contest. They finished the game by out-rebounding the Lakers, 39-20, including 15 offensive boards.
Davis finished with a team-best 22 points while senior Kendon Edwards (Waukegan, Ill./Owens C.C.) recorded his second straight double-double with a season-high 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Admission to the game was free and WSU raised over $1500 in donations to the Justin Chapman Memorial Scholarship Fund.
"We want to let everyone know that we love Justin. He's still here," said senior Oscar Sanders after the game.
"This is a tremendous honor from the University to retire his jersey. I think about him all the time and I never had to tell Justin to play hard. Justin is one of those kind of guys you miss as a person. As good of a player as he was, he was an even better person," added head coach David Greer.
The Warriors travel to Hillsdale College on Dec. 13 for a GLIAC South Division showdown at 3:00 p.m.
