Pride Unable to Mount Comeback Against Warriors in Detroit
DETROIT, Mich. – The Purdue Northwest men’s basketball team (7-18) was defeated 90-74 Saturday by the Wayne State University Warriors (7-15) inside the Matthaei Center. PNW got a pair of double-doubles from freshman Anthony Barnard, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and junior Durante Lee who added 15 points and 10 rebounds of his own.
The game started out close, as the Black and Gold even took the lead on a Ronald Karenzi tip-in with 6:52 left in the first half. After a pair of Dean Tate made free throws, WSU rattled off 11 straight points to take a 36-28 lead. Overall, the Warriors won the final 6:14 of the first frame 23-5 and went into the break up 15.
Wayne State went ahead by as much as 25 after a Latin Davis Jr. bucket with 10:16 remaining. Purdue Northwest mounted a comeback down the stretch however, cutting the lead to as little as 12 on a Lee free throw with just over four minutes left.
The Warriors were particularly strong in their interior offense, as they crushed PNW in points in the paint with a 46-22 margin. They also used 17 points off turnovers in the first half to own that category 23-12 over PNW.
Barnard notches his third consecutive double-double as he tied for the team-high in points on the afternoon. Senior Chandler Spring showed out as well Saturday, as he went 6-10 from the field including 5-8 from three to equal Barnard with 17 points.
Durante Lee, who’s field goal percentage has been either first or second in the conference all season, added 15 points on just four of nine shooting but earned his first double-double of the season. Tim Gilmore had himself 10 points in 16 minutes to close out the double-digit contributors for the Pride.
Head Coach Boomer Roberts
“We haven’t played well enough to win lately, especially on the road. We can’t keep turning the ball over at such a high rate and expect to be able to score it efficiently. More importantly, those turnovers lead to transition points for the other team, and we’re not getting a chance to set our D.
Nobody thought this mountain would be an easy climb, and it hasn’t been. But I still believe we can win these remaining GLIAC games if we keep competing in practice and push each other to get better.”
Up next, PNW returns home for Homecoming presented by Purdue Federal Credit Union Thursday, Feb. 21 at the Fitness and Recreation Center. The Pride will be hosting defending Division II national champion Ferris State at 7 p.m. as a part of the “Mane Event” for Purdue Northwest’s 2019 Homecoming, which was rescheduled from the original Jan. 31 date due to severe weather.