HAMMOND, Ind. – The Purdue University Northwest Men's Basketball team hosted the Wayne State University Warriors at the Hammond Fitness & Recreation Center on Saturday, January 18, getting the 84-73 victory in what was a physical battle all game long but very productive offensively for PNW.
"We executed the game plan well and got a much needed win today," said Head Coach
Boomer Roberts. "Their point guards is a handful, so our guys had to be locked in the entire game, and I think we did a solid job overall. Offensively, we shared it well, found the open teammate and stuck shots. We're pretty tough to guard when we move the ball and screen bodies, but it starts with getting stops. Tim [Gilmore] was great, Greg Boyle played well, and our focus and toughness were at a higher level tonight. We need that consistently moving forward."
The Pride opened with the first score of the game, a layup from
Jyrus Freels that was followed by a quick two-point response from the Warriors. The Warriors would open up a minor gap following the first media timeout but was answered by a three-pointer from
Gregory Boyle. A Boyle layup followed a Warriors offensive foul in the seventh minute and was proceeded by a technical foul on Wayne State's Brailen Neely that put
Chandler Spring at the line, where he would tie the game at 13-13. The technical foul also led to Neely's first substitution off the court so far this 2019-20 season.
A foul with eight minutes left in the first half would put the Pride in the bonus and send
Durante Lee to the line, draining both free throws and giving PNW the 20-17 lead. A pair of three-pointers late in the half from
Timothy Gilmore extended Purdue Northwest's lead to 37-28. Spring added his own shot from behind-the-arc followed by a driving layup from Lee in the final minute. The Pride finished the first half with the 43-34 lead.
After twenty minutes of competition, PNW was shooting 15-35 from the field and 5-15 from three, compared to Wayne State's 15-26 and 2-3, respectively.
Gilmore opened up the second half for the Pride with another made three-pointer, which was followed by a Freels trip to the free-throw line to extend their lead early in the half to 48-36. Gilmore then continued with the hot hand, sinking two more outside shots before the first media timeout of the half.
Xavier Allison drained a three-pointer with 12 minutes remaining. When the final whistle blew, the Pride knocked off the Warriors for the 84-73 conference win.
Gilmore's big-time performance gave him a season-high 27 points on 9-14 shooting, including 7-11 from deep. Freels scored 14 points, grabbed four rebounds and had one assist. Included with his sharp-shooting first half, Boyle finished with 10 points, three assists and two steals.
Other contributors included Lee (eight points, six rebounds and an assists), Allison (eight points, six assists, two rebounds and a steal),
Anthony Barnard (four points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals), and
Gabe Toombs (six points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal).
As a team, PNW made 12 three-pointers and shot 45.5% from the field. The Pride outscored the Warriors 37-6 in bench points, 24-21 in points off turnovers and 16-10 in fast break points.
The Pride will be back in action on Thursday, January 23 when they hit the road to face off against the Lake Superior State Lakers. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. (CT).
