Box Score

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University Center, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (7-6 overall, 5-5 GLIAC) snapped its three-game losing streak with a 68-61 victory at Saginaw Valley State University (5-9 overall, 1-9 GLIAC) Saturday evening.

The WSU defense was key to a nine-point (30-21) halftime advantage by limiting the Cardinals to 28 percent (7-of-25) in the opening 20 minutes.

SVSU's Calvin Turnage gave the hosts a 4-0 lead in the first 62 seconds of the contest before the Warriors put points on the board with a triple by senior forward Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) on Wayne State's third possession.

WSU trailed by five (10-5) at the 16:09 mark after a triple by Cardinal Garrett Hall, but tallied the next seven points on back-to-back baskets by senior forward Jamar Ragland (Detroit, Mich. / Loyola) and a conventional three-point play by senior guard Chene Phillips (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance).  After Turnage made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, the Warriors had consecutive hoops by Phillips and freshman guard Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance).

Turnage scored four straight points to knot the game at 17 with 7:43 left, preceding a 13-4 run by Wayne State to end the first half.  Coleman and senior forward Gerald Williams-Taylor (Flint, Mich. / Northern) each had four points during the spurt, while sophomore guard Gavin Toma (Troy, Mich. / Southfield Christian) added three points.

A Coleman dunk on WSU's second possession after intermission pushed the advantage to 11 (32-21), but six straight points by SVSU made it a five-point game.  Williams-Taylor scored the first and last buckets in an 8-0 Warrior run which increased the margin to 13 (40-27) with just over 15 minutes left.

Five points by Williams-Taylor in a 90-second span plus a field goal by senior Michael Martin (West Bloomfield, Mich.) made it a 16-point game (47-31) with just under 12 minutes remaining.  Wayne State's lead was never fewer than nine until a triple by Damon Bozeman with 2:19 left cut the Warrior margin to eight (62-54) and started a stretch of Saginaw Valley scoring nine of the next 10 points to pull within three (63-60) with 53 seconds left.

Phillips made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 20 seconds to secure the road victory.

Phillips finished with a game-high 25 points and a team-best eight rebounds, while Williams-Taylor scored a season-high 16 points.

Turnage and Bozeman each had 17 for Saginaw Valley, with Turnage grabbing a game-best 10 rebounds.

Wayne State will play its next two games at home starting with a 7:30 pm contest on Thursday against Michigan Tech which will be televised by Comcast (CN channel 900) with Ryan Ermanni, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson serving as the broadcasters.