University Center, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (10-9 overall, 8-7 GLIAC) suffered a
68-63 setback at Saginaw Valley (13-7 overall, 10-5 GLIAC) Thursday evening.
The host Cardinals led 4-1 until senior
Bryan Wright (Warren, Ohio/Harding) drained a triple at the 15:56 mark as the Warriors were held without a field goal for the first four minutes.
SVSU's Chris Webb hit his own three-pointer 30 seconds later and the game would never be tied again. A layup by junior
Jerry Oden (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech) at the 14:31 mark pulled WSU within one at 7-6.
The Cardinals scored the next five points until a jumper by sophomore
Dale Brundidge (Southfield, Mich./Detroit Country Day).
Wayne State trailed 14-8 at the midpoint of the first half but outscored the hosts 10-7 over the next five minutes to make it a three-point contest at 21-18. Wright hit another triple, while junior
Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich./Northern) had a conventional three-point play.
WSU freshman
Ian Larkin (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) hit a jumper with 2:50 left before halftime cutting the Cardinal lead to one at 21-20. SVSU scored six points in the final minute for a 28-22 lead at intermission.
Wright's third triple at the 17:57 mark made it a three-point contest at 30-27. Almost three minutes later, Smothers made both ends of a one-and-one to pull within three (32-29) as the Cardinals were whistled for seven fouls in the first five minutes of the second half.
Another triple by Webb and three-pointer by Sean Romsek increased the hosts lead to seven at 38-31 with just over 14 minutes remaining.
Larkin's offensive rebound and layup made it a five-point game (38-33), but the Cardinals answered with a 10-2 run over the next three-plus minutes. Webb's third triple of the game gave SVSU its largest lead (15) at 51-36 with 9:44 remaining.
The Warriors kept chipping away at the deficit and were within six (55-49) following freshman
Mike Hollingsworth's offensive rebound and put back with 4:17 left.
After the Cardinals had a nine-point lead (58-49), Wright made two foul shots and Hollingsworth came up with a steal and a fastbreak layup to pull the Warriors within five (58-53) with 2:27 left.
Six straight SVSU points appeared to seal the deal (64-53), but Wayne State responded with a 10-2 run to pull within three (66-63) on Wright's fifth triple with 16.1 seconds left.
Cardinal Dan Genther split a pair from the foul line but a missed jumper by WSU ended the comeback hopes.
Wright tallied a game-high 21 points (5-8 3-PT, 6-6 FT), while Hollingsworth added 11 points.
SVSU shot 48 percent (20-42) from the floor compared to 32 percent (20-62) for WSU. The Warriors had 18 offensive rebounds but managed just 10 second-chance points.
The Wayne State defense forced 20 turnovers but it was not enough to overcome the poor shooting from the floor.
WSU will try to salvage a split on its weekend road trip when the Warriors travel to Lake Superior for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday.