MIDLAND, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (15-8, 12-7 GLIAC) held off a late comeback attempt to clinch a spot in the GLIAC Tournament for the first time since 2012-13 with a 77-68 win over Northwood (5-23, 3-16 GLIAC) on Thursday night.

Winners of three straight road games and six of eight, the Warriors continue to push to improve their seeding for the playoffs, which begins on Feb. 28th.  With two more victories, WSU could be looking at a home GLIAC Quarterfinal game inside the Matthaei.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- An early three-point play from Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) gave the Warriors a 5-2 advantage at the 18:14 mark.  A 12-foot turn around jumper from Michael Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) trimmed NU's lead to 12-11 with 14:40 left in the first half.  Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) gave WSU a 15-14 lead at the 12-minute mark with a tough, contested layup.  The rally continued with buckets from George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) and Lewis.  Lewis added a free throw after his basket to convert the three-point play and push run to 7-0, giving WSU a 20-14 lead.  The Timberwolves went without a field goal from the 14:12 mark to the 7:15 mark.  The Warriors began to pull away, 31-19, after a triple from Spencer with just under three minute left in the first half.  Spencer connected once again from behind the arc at the 1:15 mark followed by a trey from Bishop and WSU led 37-24 at halftime.

- Three minutes into the second half, Wayne State led 43-31 following two points from Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech).  Spencer's third triple of the night and a Key layup on the next possession gave WSU its largest lead of the game, 58-40, at the 12:24 mark.  Consecutive three-pointers from Northwood and an old-fashioned three-point play pulled the home team within 11, 60-49, with 8:10 to play.  After another basket from the Timberwolves, Booth slowed the comeback attempt with a layup at the seven-minute mark, to give WSU a 62-51 lead.  However, NU continued to execute offensively and trailed 62-56 with 5:48 remaining, riding a 16-2 run.  Spencer extended the lead to 67-58 with his fourth long ball of the game at the 4:56 mark.  The lead never dipped below 10 until late in the game as Wayne State held on for a 77-68 triumph.

WSU LEADERS
- Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) collected his second straight double-double (third career) with 14 points and 13 rebounds.  Spencer led WSU with 19 points, while Key (14), Bishop (11) and Bishop (11) all finished in double figures.

NORTHWOOD LEADERS
- Schaub tallied a game-high 21 points.

UP NEXT
- Wayne State will travel to Lake Superior State on Saturday for a 3 p.m. key divisional matchup.  Fans can listen to the action on WDTK (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).