MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (14-8, 11-7 GLIAC) continued its four-game road trip with a 70-64 triumph at Northern Michigan (7-16, 5-13 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon.

It is the first time since the 2012-13 campaign that the Warriors won both games of an Upper Peninsula trip.  WSU entered the day with a magic number of three to secure a spot in the GLIAC Tournament for the first time in two seasons.  That is either Wayne State victories or Saginaw Valley State losses.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Northern Michigan knocked down two early triples to take an 8-2 lead at the 18:16 mark.  A Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) trey trimmed the home lead to 15-11 with 14 minutes to play in the opening half.  Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) executed a turn around jumper to keep WSU close at 20-15 with 9:59 remaining.  The Wildcats extended their lead to 30-19, powered by five points from Jordan Perez.  A deep ball from Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) at the top of the key pulled WSU within five, 30-25, with 2:40 to play.  NMU added a two-point basket before halftime and WSU trailed 32-25 at the break.

•  The Warriors opened the second half on a 9-2 run, including three-pointers from Booth and Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly), to take a 35-34 lead at the 17:15 mark.  A Key jumper kept WSU ahead 41-39 with 14 minutes left to play in regulation.  The Green & Gold advantage grew to seven at the 12-minute mark after back-to-back lay-ups from Booth.  NMU's Naba Echols converted a three-point play at the 3:46 mark to trim deficit to 56-54.  Moore connected from behind the arc to stretch WSU's lead to 59-54 with 2:10 to play.  The Wildcats cut WSU's lead to 64-60 on a four-point play from Echols with 34 second left to play.  Wayne State would control the final seconds and win by six.

WSU LEADERS
• Four Warriors finished with at least 10 points led by Moore's 19.  Moore also collected a career-high 17 rebounds for his second career double-double (first was earlier this season in an overtime victory against Lewis).  Key finished with 17 points and Booth contributed 16 points.

NMU LEADERS
• Echols tallied a game-high 21 points, while Isaiah Johnson chipped in 18.

UP NEXT
• Wayne State will play at Northwood on Thursday with tip-off scheduled for 8 p.m.  The action can be heard on WDTK (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).