Box Score

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DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (9-7 overall, 7-6 GLIAC) recorded a 79-62 triumph over visiting Ferris State University (6-11 overall, 5-8 GLIAC) Thursday evening at the Matthaei.

After a see-saw first half that saw eight lead changes, two ties and the Warriors nearly squander a 10-point advantage, the final two lead changes of the game occurred in the first 70 seconds after intermission.  WSU went on a 14-4 run after falling behind 37-36 as Bulldog Jared Stolicker scored on a lay-up on FSU's second possession following halftime.

A dunk by senior Michael Martin (West Bloomfield, Mich.), off a feed from classmate Chene Phillips (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance), put Wayne State ahead for good at 38-37.  Martin blocked a Stolicker jumper on the ensuing possession and senior forward Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) drilled a triple extending the lead to four.  Two trips down the court later, freshman Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) hit his shot from beyond the arc increasing the WSU lead to six (45-39).

Senior forward Jamar Ragland (Detroit, Mich. / Loyola) answered an FSU bucket with a lay-up of his own.  Phillips then scored the next three points making it a nine-point contest (50-41) at the 14:26 mark.

The Bulldogs were within six twice in the next two-plus minutes (50-44 and 52-46) before a 6-0 Warrior run pushed the advantage to 12 (58-46) just past the mid-point of the second half.  Ferris State was never closer than 10 points (58-48) the rest of the game.

All eight first half lead changes occurred in the first 10 minutes.  With the Wayne State trailing 14-12 at the 12:01 mark, back-to-back lay-ups by Coleman and Ragland gave WSU a 16-14 lead.  Ragland continued his scoring by recording the next four points as well to make it 20-14. 

Phillips responded to a Stolicker dunk with a jumper, then Bishop drained another three pointer with Ragland finishing off the run with a jumper increasing the Warrior margin to 10 (27-27) at the 6:01 mark.

Nine straight Bulldog points was answered by sophomore guard Gavin Toma (Troy, Mich. / Southfield Christian) who hit two consecutive triples in less than 45 seconds.

Ferris ended the opening half on a 9-3 run cutting its deficit to one (36-35) at intermission.

Coleman led four Warriors in double figures with 20 points, while also contributing a game-high three blocked shots.  Ragland tallied 16 points and eight rebounds off the WSU bench.

Senior forward Gerald Williams-Taylor (Flint, Mich. / Northern) notched his first double-double of the campaign with 10 points and 10 rebounds, with Phillips adding 10 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.  The 12 helpers are tied for fourth-most in school history and is the second-highest total by a WSU player in the last eight years (Dale Brundidge had 12 assists at Tiffin on Jan. 19, 2012).  Next month's Hall of Fame inductee Kris Krzyminski had two 12-assist contests in a 10-day period in Jan. 2006 (1/2 vs. Illinois Tech and 1/12 vs. Ashland).

Stolicker led FSU with 15 points, while Jibreel Jackson added 12 points off the Bulldog bench.  Raymoan McAfee had a team-high eight rebounds for Ferris while also recording nine points.

The Warrior defense limited FSU to 30 percent (8-of-27) in the second half, while WSU connected on 58 percent (14-of-24) of its shots including all three triple tries.

Both teams made six three pointers in the game, but Wayne State was 6-of-9 compared to Ferris' 6-of-19.

WSU begins a two-game road trip with a Saturday afternoon contest at Grand Valley followed by a Monday evening tilt at Lake Superior.