UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Wayne State University men's basketball team (2-9 overall, 2-6 GLIAC) suffered a 63-57 setback at Saginaw Valley State University (11-2 overall, 8-0 GLIAC) on Saturday night inside the O'Neill Arena. The game concluded the North Division portion of the Warrior schedule as the remaining 14 contests will all be against South Division teams.
SVSU, who entered the contest winners of nine straight, used 34 points in the paint and 28 points off 21 WSU turnovers to extend its winning streak. The youthful Warriors only allowed one more made field goal, connected on the same number of three-point shots (four) and shot 90 percent (9-of-10) from the foul line, however the Cardinals were 13-of-24 from the charity stripe, and had 10 less turnovers.
Saginaw Valley State jumped out to an 11-4 lead five minutes into the contest powered by two three-pointers from Mitch Baenziger.
Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) beat his defender for an easy layup at the 9:22 mark to bring WSU within three at 16-13. The Cardinals answered by extending their lead to 26-19 with 3:37 to play before halftime forcing head coach
David Greer to call a timeout.
Gavin Toma (Troy, Mich. / Southfield Christian) sank two free throws to cut the deficit to two, 28-26, with just under two minutes before the break.
Tristan Wilson (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) had an opportunity to tip in
Daniel Ball's (Dearborn Heights, Mich. / Allen Park Cabrini) missed three-point attempt but it was after time had expired.
SVSU led 28-26 at halftime. Moore led WSU with six points while Baenziger led all scorers with eight points. The Cardinals used their up-tempo game to collect 10 fast-break points compared to WSU's zero.
The Warriors did not score in the second half until the 16:25 mark. Saginaw Valley State took advantage of the cold streak and extended its lead to 39-28 on a Caleb Davis triple at the 15:20 mark.
Michael Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) banked in a three to pull WSU within four at 41-37 with 12 minutes left to play. SVSU regained control and led 50-43 with 4:23 remaining.
The Cardinals would control the final minutes and collect their 10th straight victory, 63-57.
Moore led WSU with 12 points while Lewis finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Wilson posted 10 points and six rebounds.
C.J. Turnage, who was one of four Cardinals in double figures, tallied a game-high 17 points to go with his seven boards.
The Warriors will play at Tiffin on Thursday at 8 p.m.
