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DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (11-9, 9-8 GLIAC) is vying for one of the final GLIAC Tournament spots but Saturday afternoon's 70-67 setback to visiting the Saginaw Valley Cardinals (8-12, 4-12 GLIAC) did the Warriors no favors.

Wayne State falls a game behind Hillsdale for seventh place. WSU is tied-for-eighth with Malone.

A solid start for the Warriors was capped by a triple from Gavin Toma (Troy, Mich. / Southfield Christian) at the 13:56 mark to give WSU a 15-8 advantage. The lead reached double-digits at 23-13 after a Chene Phillips (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) steal and layup with 10:43 to play before halftime. The Warrior lead ballooned to 14, 27-13, after a jumper from Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) at the nine-minute mark.

SVSU would go on an 11-0 run to pull within three at 27-24 with just under five minutes to play. The Cardinals would cut the deficit to one at the break, 33-32, after a jumper from Garrett Hall with four seconds left to play.

Damon Bozeman set the Cardinals' tone early in the second half with a triple to give SVSU its first lead since the opening basket, 35-33, at the 19:24 mark. Toma connected on another three-pointer to give the Warriors some breathing room, 51-44, with 13:26 to play.

WSU would lead until the 6:54 mark when CJ Turnage knocked down a jumper to put SVSU on top, 55-54. The visitors' lead reached six, 60-54, after a Turnage steal transitioned into a dunk with 5:12 to play. The Warriors had to play catch-up the rest of the way.

Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) fouled out at the 1:58 mark with the Warriors down by two, 62-60.

A three-point play from Phillips cut the SVSU lead to one, 64-63 with 1:52 to play. SVSU answered with a layup from Bozeman before two free throws from Toma would bring the Warriors back within two, 67-65, with nine seconds to play.

A near five-second call was avoided when a timeout was awarded to the SVSU bench following the two WSU free throws. Phillips cut the SVSU lead to two again with a layup with four seconds remaining. Phillips was fouled on the layup and intentionally missed the free throw to give WSU a chance at the reboubd but SVSU was able to corral the loose ball.

WSU sent Hall to the free thow line for two with just two seconds left in the contest. Hall missed the second and Phillips grabbed the rebound and heaved a full-court desperation attempt, which fell short to give SVSU the 70-67 win.

Phillips collected his third double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 assists while also grabbing seven rebounds. Also in double-figures for WSU were Coleman with 14 points and Toma with 12.

Both Turnage and Hall lead all scorers with 23 points each.

WSU will begin a three-game road trip on Thursday at Michigan Tech at 7:30 PM.