HAMMOND, Ind. – The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (3-3 overall, 2-0 GLIAC) started slow falling behind 12-2 in the first seven minutes, but rallied for a 73-66 road win at Purdue Northwest University (0-7 overall, 0-2 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon at the PNU Fitness and Recreation Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Pride's Torrance Johnson scored four points in the first 2:20, while Chandler Spring drained a triple and added another hoop to help the hosts take a 12-2 lead just 6:50 into the contest.

The Warriors rebounded to score 14 of the next 17 points to take a 16-14 lead on Ronald Booth's (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) third triple in the first 10:20 of the match.  WSU had a 13-6 scoring advantage over the next 4:45 to open a 29-20 lead at the final media timeout before intermission.

Both teams scored eight points the rest of the opening stanza, which gave Wayne State a 37-28 lead at halftime.

Purdue Northwest started the second half strong by scoring 14 of the first 21 points, then tied the game at 44-44 on a bucket by Spring at the 14:32 mark.  

Booth then connected three times from beyond the arc over the next 4:30 to give WSU a 57-53 lead.

The Warrior defense took over and limited PNU to just two made field goals over the next 10 minutes.

TEAM STATS

Wayne State shot 49 percent (26-of-53) from the floor, compared to 41 percent (26-of-64) for PNU.  WSU was 9-of-16 from beyond the arc (56 percent), while the Pride was 4-of-20 (20 percent).  The Warriors were 12-of-18 from the foul line (67 percent), with Purdue Northwest shooting 77 percent (10-of-13) from the charity stripe.  Wayne State had a 38-31 edge in rebounding, but the Pride had a 36-20 advantage for points in the paint.

LEADING THE WARRIORS

Four starters scored in double figures led by Booth with a team-high 20 points.  Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) nearly had a double-double with 10 points and a game-best nine rebounds, while Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) contributed 14 points and seven rebounds.  George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) chipped in with 13 points.

LEADING THE PANTHERS

Johnson garnered a game-high 21 points, while Chandler added 14 points.  Jai Wright totaled a team-high six rebounds.

UP NEXT

Wayne State will conclude its brief two-game road trip with a contest on Thursday at Ashland University.