DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (20-7 overall) advanced to the GLIAC semifinals for the first time since 2005 with Wednesday's 79-62 victory over Hillsdale College (20-6 overall) at the Matthaei.

WSU will play Findlay at 3 p.m. in Saturday's second GLIAC semifinal contest.  Host Ferris State entertains Michigan Tech at 1 p.m. on Saturday.  The 2011 GLIAC Championship game will start at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Big Rapids.

The visiting Chargers jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the first 5:40 of the game as the Warriors managed just one field goal, a triple by junior guard Dale Brundidge (Southfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day) in the first six minutes.

Wayne State responded with an 11-0 run as HC went 7:46 without a point.  Six different Warriors scored during the streak which started with a three-pointer by sophomore guard Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich.).

The teams then traded baskets with the Chargers pulling within four on three separate occasions.  WSU ended the half outscoring the visitors 12-7 for a 30-21 lead at intermission.  Warrior junior guard Stacey Waters  (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) drained an off-balance fade-away triple in the final seven seconds to complete the first half scoring.

HC's Tyler Gerber began the second half scoring with a three-pointers at the 18:26 mark.  A 7-2 Warrior spurt concluded with a triple by senior guard Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich. / Northern), who finished with a game-high 20 points.

Wayne State's advantage remained between seven and 11 for nearly the next four minutes until a 7-0 WSU run increased the lead to 14 (47-33) with 12:35 left.  Hillsdale answered with a 10-3 run to pull within seven at 50-43 just past the mid-point of the second half.

The Warriors responded with a 10-4 run of their own over the next 6:30 as the Chargers made just one field goal and two free throws during that span.

Two Hollingsworth foul shots increased the WSU lead to 13 (60-47) with 3:26 left.

Hillsdale cut the Wayne State lead to nine (69-60) with 1:41 left but the Warriors ended the game on a 9-2 run.

WSU shot 55 percent in the second half (11-of-20) to finish the game at 48 percent (23-of-48).  Meanwhile, the Chargers shot 50 percent (13-of-26) after intermission to finish at 42 percent (22-of-52).

Both teams had 12 turnovers, but Wayne State had a 36-23 rebounding edge along with a 25-9 advantage in bench scoring.

The Warriors tied a season-high with 10 triples while shooting a season-best 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from beyond the arc.

Wayne State has won three or more games against the same team for the first time since going 4-0 against Oakland University during the 1993-94 campaign (WSU won both regular-season meetings then defeated OU both in the GLIAC tournament and NCAA tournament).