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DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (8-7 overall, 6-6 GLIAC) began the second half of the GLIAC schedule with a 61-51 triumph over visiting Northern Michigan University (4-12 overall, 3-9 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon at the Matthaei.

The Warriors never trailed by more than a point for almost the entire first half until Wildcat Marcus Hall hit a jumper in the final second before intermission giving NMU a 36-34 lead.  There were five ties (2, 15, 17, 19 and 34) in the opening 20 minutes which saw both teams shoot 60 percent (NMU 12-of-20, WSU 14-of-23).

The biggest difference before halftime was NMU going 7-of-8 from the foul line compared to 3-of-5 for the Warriors.  WSU senior forward Jamar Ragland (Detroit, Mich. / Loyola) had 10 points off the bench in the first half, while Hall also had 10 points for the Wildcats.

After five lead changes in the first half, all three second half lead changes occurred in the first 5:30 after intermission.  Senior guard Chene Phillips (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) scored on a fast-break lay-up after taking the ball away from NMU's Larry Taylor.  The basket by Phillips put WSU ahead 40-39 and started an 11-0 run by the Warriors as the Wildcats went scoreless for over eight minutes.  Ragland and Phillips each had four points during the run, while senior forward Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) added three points.

Wayne State led 49-39 with eight minutes left prior to Northern Michigan going on a 7-0 run to pull within three (49-46) at the 6:21 mark.  Coleman's lay-up off a feed from Phillips following a Warrior timeout pushed the lead back to five.  Neither team scored for the next 2:30 until Wildcat Terry Nash split a pair from the foul line, but freshman guard Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) scored on a lay-up. 

After a defensive stop by WSU, Ragland made one-of-two from the charity stripe increasing the margin to seven (54-47) with 2:39 left.  NMU's Ethan Blackwell missed a lay-up and the Warriors had two offensive rebounds leading to a pair of Coleman free throws and a nine-point advantage (56-47) with 1:43 remaining.

Coleman's fast break lay-up with 77 seconds left answered an NMU hoop as the Wildcats were slow getting back on defense.

The Wayne State defensive pressure limited Northern Michigan to 15 second half points on 5-of-28 shooting (18 percent).  Meanwhile, the Warriors shot 38 percent (8-of-21), but 50 percent from inside the arc.

Ragland tallied a game-high 17 points with Coleman adding 16.  Phillips was working on a triple-double and finished with a game-best nine rebounds, eight points along with a game-high seven assists.

Blackwell led NMU with 14 points while Nash, Hall and Justin Newell each added 10 points.

Wayne State held a 36-20 edge in rebounding.

The Warriors will conclude their three-game homestand with a 7:30 pm contest on Thursday vs. Ferris State.  The game will be televised on Comcast channel 900 with Ryan Ermanni, Kevin Brechmacher and Joe Abramson calling the action.