March 14, 2004

Boxscore

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Eighth-seeded Wayne State (Mich.) defied the odds again Sunday, overcoming an 11-point second-half deficit to beat fourth-seeded Michigan Tech in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II men's basketball Great Lakes Regional.

Wayne State, which knocked off top-seeded Lewis in the quarterfinals, will play No. 3 Southern Indiana in Tuesday's championship game at 7 p.m. Southern Indiana defeated Findlay 75-67 in the other semifinal.

Michigan Tech (22-8) led 45-34 with 9:55 left when Jason Marcotte sank a 3-pointer. But as they did against Lewis the night before, the Warriors (19-11) gradually crept back into the game utilizing a strong inside game.

However, it was a pair of 3-pointers by Kendall LeSure, who was 4 of 7 from beyond the arc, that brought Wayne State to within 54-53 at the 1:37 mark. A layup by Oscar Sanders' with :43 left proved to be the game-winner, and a layup by Kendon Edwards with :11 to play provided insurance.

A 3-point try from the right wing by Michigan Tech's Josh Buettner was off the mark. The Huskies retrieved the rebound and called time out with :00.2, but a desperation shot to tie missed.

Wayne State owned a 23-20 lead with 6:12 left in the first half, but Tech outscored the Warriors 10-3 and took a 30-26 lead into the locker room. Both teams were sluggish offensively early in the second half before Tech pulled out to the 11-point margin.

In making its comeback during the latter part of the second half, Wayne State was 11 of 15 from the field while holding Michigan Tech to 2 of 9.

LeSure led Wayne State with 13 points, 12 coming in the second half, and Edwards tallied 12 points and eight rebounds. Herb Goliday and Joel Simpson collected nine and seven rebounds, respectively, helping the Warriors to a 37-29 edge on the glass.

Josh Buettner's 27 points and nine rebounds led Michigan Tech, which also got 13 points from Jeff McHenry. The Huskies were just 5 of 23 (.217) from 3-point distance.

3/14/04