Boxscore

Post-game interview with assistant coach E.J. Haralson

Post-game interview with Gerald Williams-Taylor

Halftime interview with former Warrior Andrew Tines

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (15-6 overall, 14-4 GLIAC) remained atop the GLIAC with a 66-46 triumph over visiting Northern Michigan University (5-18 overall, 4-15 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon at the Matthaei.  The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Warriors who will play their final regular-season home game this Thursday at 6 p.m. against Ferris State.

WSU never trailed in the first 5:30 of the contest and had a pair of four-point leads at 4-0 and 8-4.  The Wildcats Scotter Johnson scored on a jumper then a triple on the ensuing NMU possession giving the guests its only lead of the game 9-8 at the 14:20 mark.  Johnson had eight of NMU's first nine points.

After a couple of scoreless minutes, junior forward Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup) hit a jumper and junior guard Chene Phillips (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) followed with a steal and dunk.  Junior forward Gerald Williams-Taylor (Flint, Mich./Northern) had a conventional three-point play then added a lay-up increasing the Warrior lead to eight (17-9).  A jumper by Johnson at the 7:05 mark ended a Wildcat scoring drought that lasted 7:15.

Wayne State closed out the opening 20 minutes on an 11-4 run for a 28-13 advantage at intermission.  WSU held a 20-2 scoring in the paint margin in the first half along with a 13-5 points off turnovers edge.  NMU's Johnson led all scorers at the break by scoring 12 of his team's 13 points.  His teammates were 0-for-9 from the field and 1-of-2 from the foul line.

Northern Michigan pulled within 13 twice early in the second half (31-18 and 33-20), but a 17-7 Warrior run in less than a seven minute stretch pushed the lead to 23 (50-27) at the midpoint of the second half.

Back-to-back triples by NMU's Stephen Pelkofer cut the WSU lead to 17 with 7:45 left, but Wayne State out-scored the Wildcats 14-11 the rest of the game.

Senior forward Ian Larkin (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) and Phillips tied for game-high scoring honors with 16 points apiece.  Williams-Taylor added 11 points, while Coleman chipped in 10 points off the bench.

Larkin and NMU's Kendall Jackson tied for game-high rebounding total with seven boards each.

Johnson made just one field goal in the second half to finish with a team-best 14 points.  Pelkofer contributed 12 points, while Jackson added 11.

Each team had 10 offensive rebounds with WSU holding a slim 11-10 edge in second-chance points.  Wayne State forced Northern Michigan into 24 miscues leading to a 27-13 margin in points off turnovers.  The Warriors also led in points in the paint (34-10), fast break points (16-2) and bench scoring (15-0).

Senior guard Cole Prophet (Sandusky, Ohio) recorded five assists and five steals, while helping his teammates shot 48 percent (26-of-54) from the floor.  WSU was also 11-of-14 from the foul line.

Northern Michigan shot 39 percent (17-of-44) including 7-of-16 from beyond the arc.

Wayne State will enter the final two weeks of the regular season with a narrow lead both in the GLIAC North Division (WSU is 14-4  -- Grand Valley is 13-6 as is Michigan Tech) and the GLIAC overall standings (14-5 for Findlay).