Box Score

Post-game interview with head coach Ray McCallum

With one of the largest crowds in recent years at Calihan Hall cheering them on, a hot shooting Titan squad gave the hometown fans a smile on Sunday afternoon as the Detroit men's basketball team won its home opener, 86-80, over in-state rival Western Michigan.

“There is a lot of excitement in that locker room,” said head coach Ray McCallum. “I would say it was a good win and it was an important game for us to put 40 minutes together. That was our goal after playing 24 good minutes at Cal and that helped us get ready for this game.”

Detroit connected on 51% of its shots from the field, including hitting 11 3-pointers on the day. Before 3,840 fans, it was the highest scoring game Detroit has had since netting 92 at Buffalo in 2007, and the most points scored at home since tallying 91 against Milwaukee in the same season.

Sophomore Chase Simon (Detroit, MI/Community) scored a career-high 22 points, the first 20+ game of his career, and sophomore Eli Holman (Richmond, CA/Richmond) added his first career double-double with a personal best 16 points and 12 rebounds, along with blocking three shots. Senior Woody Payne (Inkster, MI/Ypsilanti) added 11 markers, six boards, four assists and three steals, while junior Xavier Keeling (Huntsville, AL/J.O. Johnson) netted 10 points to go with four helpers.

“After a loss like that at Cal, a good team comes back and focus on the next game and that is what we did,” added Holman.

The only thing stopping the Titans on the day was a 23-of-39 effort from the free throw line that kept the Broncos in the game, but Detroit would rebound to hit 10 of its 11 in the final 2:10 of the contest.

Leading by three 58-55, the Titans blew the game wide open with a 15-2 run midway through the second half to take their largest lead of the day, 73-57, with 6:17 to go. Simon hit two treys during that stretch, while Keeling scored five and Holman put in four.

With Detroit ahead, 75-62, with 3:43 to go, the Titans went cold from the charity stripe going 2-of-9 at one point, which allowed WMU to creep back. The Broncos got to within four, 78-74, with just 1:33 to go, but the Detroit shook off the early misses to put the game away.

UDM forced 18 Western Michigan turnovers and held the Broncos to just 17% (3-of-17) shooting from the outside. The Broncos' offense was led by David Kool who scored a game high 29 points, most of it from the free-throw line where he was 15-of-16.

Both teams were hitting shots early and often to start the game, shooting around 50% for much of the first half. Junior Lamar Lee (Lafayette, IN/Jefferson ) got the offense going by hitting two quick three's in the first two minutes of play as the Titans, who made just four 3-point baskets at Cal on Wednesday, nailed five in the first half alone.

The lead changed hands seven times in the first stanza, but WMU led 26-23 with 6:13 to go until Detroit closed out the first half on a 16-8 run. Holman started the spurt with a layup and tied it with a free throw. Keeling would give Detroit a brief lead with a basket of his own, but Western Michigan came right back to knot it at 28.

From there, the red, white and blue scored five straight, and Simon added seven of his own in the last three minutes, to give the Titans an eight-point lead, 39-31, until a trey by WMU's Nate Hutcheson at the buzzer trimmed the halftime advantage to just five, 39-34.

Detroit exploded for 13 points in the first three minutes of the second half to open up a double-digit lead, 52-41. The Titans were doing it from inside and out as Keeling and senior Eugene Blue (Flint, MI/Northern) connected on layups, while Simon and senior Thomas Kennedy hit 3-pointers to give UDM a lead they would never relinquish.

Detroit returns to action at the end of the week as the Titans head to Albany, NY, to play three games in the subregional of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. UDM will play Robert Morris on Friday at 5 p.m., host Albany on Saturday and finish up the weekend against Alcorn State on Sunday.