Box Score

Box Score (HTML)   l   Photo Gallery   l   Halftime interview with Kelvin Wise (MP3)   l   Martin's First Half Dunk (MP3)  l   Toma and Phillips Hit Triples (MP3)  l   Postgame Interview with Assistant Coach Haralson (MP3)  |  Martin's Dunk (Video)  |  Video Highlights

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (7-7 overall, 5-6 GLIAC) dropped a narrow 52-50 decision to visiting Michigan Tech (12-3 overall, 8-3 GLIAC) Thursday evening at the Matthaei in a game televised live on Comcast channel 900.

Three of WSU's six conference setbacks have been by a combined five points.

Two of the three second half lead changes came in the final 3:40 as a triple by Warrior senior guard Chene Phillips (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) put the hosts in front 49-48 with 3:34 remaining capping a 6-0 run by Wayne State.  Sophomore guard Gavin Toma (Troy, Mich./Southfield Christian) hit his second three-pointer of the contest on WSU's prior possession off a feed from Phillips.

The Huskies regained the advantage on the ensuing possession as Austin Armga, the GLIAC's second-highest scorer, hit a jumper.  Following a shot clock violation by Wayne State, both teams failed to score on their next trips down the court.  After a missed three-point attempt by Michigan Tech, the Warriors had another shot clock violation.

Wayne State had four fouls in four seconds to put the Huskies into a one-and-one situation.  Armga made both with 26.8 seconds left pushing the MTU lead to three (52-49).

Phillips was fouled driving to the hoop and sank the second one of a two-shot foul situation with 22.2 seconds remaining.

The Warrior defensive pressure forced a traveling call on the Huskies with 20 seconds left.  Senior forward Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup) missed a jumper from just inside the foul line but got his own rebound and threw up an off-balance triple try just in front of the WSU bench.  Freshman guard Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) was fouled going for the rebound with 4.7 seconds left.  Since it was just the sixth foul of the half on the Huskies, WSU was forced to inbounds the ball.

Coleman took the inbounds pass and after a couple of dribbles his triple try from the top of the arc bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

The first half had four lead changes and just one tie (3-3).  Wayne State's largest lead was six (12-6) following a lay-up by senior forward Jamar Ragland (Detroit, Mich./Loyola).

A 12-5 run by the Huskies concluded with a triple by Ben Stelzer giving the guests an 18-17 lead with 2:28 left before intermission.  Senior forward Gerald Williams-Taylor (Flint, Mich./Northern) scored down low on the next possession to put the Warriors ahead 19-18 and following a defensive stop by WSU, Toma hit jumper in the final minute to complete the first half scoring.

Toma led WSU with 15 points on 6-of-11 from the floor including two triples, with Coleman adding 10 points while playing all 40 minutes.  Phillips recorded game-high totals of eight rebounds and four assists.

Armga tallied a game-high 16 points, all in the second half, with Stelzer adding 12 points.  Luke Heller and Jordan Chartier led the Huskies with five rebounds each.

Michigan Tech shot 47 percent (21-of-45), while Wayne State was limited to 37 percent (19-of-52).  The Warriors did record 10 offensive rebounds leading to a 7-0 edge in second-chance points.  Each team attempted 19 three pointers with MTU holding an 8-6 advantage in made triples.  WSU was 6-of-9 from the foul line, while the two made shots from the charity stripe by Armga in the final 30 seconds were the only free throws attempted by MTU in the entire contest.

Wayne State continues its homestand on Saturday with a 3 p.m. tip-off against Northern Michigan.