BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The Wayne State University men's basketball team (6-5 overall, 4-2 GLIAC) gave 10th-ranked Ferris State University (15-1 overall, 5-1 GLIAC) all it could handle Thursday night at Jim Wink Arena, but the host Bulldogs prevailed 86-80.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The contest featured 11 ties and nine lead changes.  Nine of the ties occurred in the first 13 minutes of the game.

FSU raced out to an 11-6 advantage just four minutes in with a 7-0 spurt.

Later the Bulldogs took a 23-20 lead following a pair of foul shots by Drew Cushingberry with 7:25 remaining before intermission.

Back-to-back triples by seniors Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) and Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) ignited the Warrior offense.  Following a lay-up by FSU's Cole Walker, Moore connected from beyond the arc and sophomore Karim Murray (Detroit, Mich. / Western International) scored from inside.

Junior Latin Davis, Jr. (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Milan) and Moore both made lay-ups to give WSU a 10-point margin (35-25) and conclude a 15-2 run.

The squads traded buckets over the final 3:30 with Wayne State holding a 44-33 halftime lead.

Seniors George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) and Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) combined to score the first five points after intermission pushing the Warrior advantage to 16 (49-33) with 18:30 remaining.

A lay-up by Key ended a 6-0 run by Ferris State and kept the lead in double digits at 51-39 with 16:42 on the clock.

WSU had a 55-44 lead with just under 15 minutes left, but the Bulldogs went on a 10-3 run to pull within four (58-54) three minutes later.

A three-pointer by Booth at the 10:45 mark increased the Wayne State lead to six (64-58).  FSU answered with a 12-5 spurt to take its first lead (70-69) since the opening half.

A triple by Moore regained the lead for the Warriors at 72-71 with 5:26 on the clock.  Two free throws by Key following the media timeout made it a three-point contest.

FSU's Greg Williams knotted the game at 74 with a long-range shot at 4:36.  Davis tied the match at 76 with a pair from the charity stripe at the 2:37 mark.

Ferris State scored the next four points before two foul shots by Moore cut the Warrior deficit to two (80-78) with 1:59 remaining.

Wayne State missed its next five shots, while the Bulldogs had a lay-up and went 4-of-4 from the foul line to secure the victory.

TEAM STATS

Wayne State shot 43 percent (27-of-63) from the floor, including 60 percent (9-of-15) from three-point range.  WSU was 17-of-20 (85 percent) from the charity stripe and had 23 assists to nine turnovers.

Meanwhile, Ferris State connected on 48 percent (32-of-67) of its field goal attempts, but the Bulldogs were just 3-of-17 (18 percent) from long range.  FSU was 19-of-21 from the foul line and had just eight miscues to 26 assists.

Ferris State had a 41-33 edge in rebounding, along with a 15-9 advantage in second-chance points.  The Bulldogs had a 46-26 lead in points in the paint.

LEADING THE WARRIORS

Moore had a career-high 25 points to lead five Warriors in double figures.  Besides shooting 8-of-11 from the floor (4-of-5 on three pointers), Moore contributed a game-best four steals.

Booth chipped in with 15 points, a team-best six rebounds and five assists, while Davis was credited with 13 points and a team-high six assists.  Key added 13 points, while Spencer had 10 points.

LEADING THE BULLDOGS

Reigning GLIAC Player-of-the-Year Zach Hankins had game-high totals of 27 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Cushingberry had 16 points, while DeShaun Thrower had 10 points off the FSU bench.  Markese Mayfield led FSU with seven assists.

UP NEXT

The Warriors will have their first home game of 2018 on Saturday against No. 24 Lake Superior State.  Tip-off is slated for just after 3 p.m. as the game will be televised live on Comcast CN 900 with Sean Baligian, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson calling the action.  The game will also be aired on The Patriot (101.5 FM / 1400 AM) with Kevin Brechmacher and Kendall LeSure on the call.