The Wayne State University men's basketball team (4-1 overall, 2-0 GLIAC) completed the sweep of its Upper Peninsula trip with a 67-60 triumph at Northern Michigan University (3-2 overall, 1-1 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon.

The Warriors started slowly as the host Wildcats scored the first eight points of the contest and led 10-6 at the first media timeout.

Over the final 14:43 of the opening 20 minutes, NMU had a 26-25 scoring edge. Junior guard Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich./Northern) had eight points in the first half, while senior guard Bryan Wright (Warren, Ohio/Harding) and senior forward Bryan Edwards (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln) each had seven points.

WSU only trailed 36-31 at intermission despite being held to 31 percent (9-of-29) from the floor compared to 45 percent (13-of-29) for NMU.

Wayne State took its first lead of the game, 38-37, at the 18:26 mark of the second half. Freshman Ian Larkin (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) scored from inside off a feed from Edwards, who had grabbed an offensive rebound following a missed free throw.

Jared Benson hit a triple for the Wildcats to regain the lead at 40-38. A lay-up by Mylan Murphy put NMU in front 42-38 with 17 minutes left.

A triple by Smothers was answered by a pair of free throws by Murphy. A tip-in by Murphy preceded a three-pointer by Wright. After another NMU basket, Smothers hit another long-range shot to pull the Warriors within one at 48-47, which started a 9-0 WSU run.

WSU had a five-point lead at 53-48 before Marc Renelique sank a pair of foul shots to end the Warrior spurt.

Edwards made one free throw, but Austin Rowe made it a two-point game (54-52) with a jumper. An Edwards lay-up was answered by another Rowe jumper with 5:32 left.

A jumper by junior Jerry Oden (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech) and a free throw a minute later gave the Warriors a 59-54 advantage with 3:39 left.

Oden responded to a Benson lay-up with a jumper to maintain the five-point lead (61-56). Wright made all six foul shots in the final 50 seconds to secure the win.

Wright scored a game-high 18 points, while Smothers added 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Oden and Edwards each contributed 12 points with Edwards grabbing a team-best seven rebounds.

Benson led the hosts with 13 points, while Murphy recorded a game-high 12 rebounds including seven on the offensive end.

The Warriors shot 40 percent (21-of-53) from the floor including 50 percent (12-of-24) in the second half. The Wildcats made 43 percent (22-of-51) of their field goal attempts, but were held to nine field goals in the second half.

WSU led in both three-pointers made (6 to 2), and free throws made (19 to 14). The Warriors shot 79 percent (19-of-24) from the charity stripe compared to 74 percent (14-of-19) for NMU.

Wayne State continues its four-game road trip with a conference visit to Northwood on Wednesday. WSU's final non-league game of the year will be Dec. 12 at Lewis.