ASHLAND, Ohio – The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (7-1 overall, 4-0 GLIAC) claimed its seventh straight victory on Saturday afternoon with a 61-56 triumph at Ashland University (6-3 overall, 2-2 GLIAC).  After two weeks of conference play, WSU is the only unbeaten squad in the GLIAC.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Wayne State scored the first four points on a lay-up by junior Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) and jumper by classmate Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech).
 
WSU again led by four (10-6) following a lay-up by senior Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance), but the Eagles answered with an 8-0 run to grab a 14-10 advantage.  AU had an eight-point margin (28-20) after a fast-break lay-up by Nick Bapst with 3:10 remaining before halftime.
 
The Warriors ended the first half on an 8-2 run to cut their deficit to two (30-28) at intermission.
 
At the beginning of the second half, there were two ties in the first minute, before a triple by AU's Boo Osborne put the hosts in front 35-32.
 
A 9-2 run by Wayne State over the next 2:26 gave the Warriors a four point lead (41-37).  Bishop had two buckets during the spurt, while Key added a jumper and junior Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) hit a three-pointer.
 
AU's Teddy Metzen scored down low, but WSU responded with seven consecutive points by Moore to increase its margin to nine (48-39) with 11:58 left.
 
Wayne State's lead remained between six and nine points for the next seven minutes, until Eagle Drew Noble sank a pair of foul shots with 4:49 left to make it a five-point contest (56-51).
 
A jumper by George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) pushed the advantage to seven (58-51) with 3:44 left. 
 
The Warriors led by six (59-53) with 1:19 remaining after Booth split a pair from the charity stripe.  Osborne drained a long-range shot with 21 seconds left but Key answered with a dunk in the final 11 seconds to complete the scoring.
 
TEAM STATS
 
Wayne State shot 50 percent (27-of-54) from the field compared to 42 percent (20-of-48) for AU.  WSU was 2-of-9 (22 percent) from three-point range, while the Eagles were 5-of-16 (31 percent).  The Warriors made just five foul shots in 14 attempts (36 percent) with Ashland shooting 73 percent (11-of-15) from the charity stripe.
 
WSU LEADERS
 
Moore tallied a game-high 17 points, while Key contributed 16 points and a team-best eight rebounds along with Bishop grabbing eight boards.  Bishop also tied for game-high honors with five assists.
 
AU LEADERS
 
Metzen was the lone Eagle in double figures with 14 points, while Osborne had a team-best six boards.
 
UP NEXT
 
Wayne State will conclude the 2016 portion of its schedule with a home contest on Thursday (Dec. 15) at 7:30 p.m. against Ohio Dominican.