DETROIT – The Wayne State University men's basketball team (13-8 overall, 11-5 GLIAC) extended its winning streak to five games Sunday afternoon, defeating guest Purdue University Northwest (1-23 overall, 1-15 GLIAC) 79-61 at the Matthaei.

HOW IT HAPPENED
It was all Wayne State in the first 2:28, as the Warriors started the contest with a 7-2 lead.  Senior George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) accounted for five of WSU's points in that span, hitting a layup, a free throw and a jumper.

The Pride kept Wayne State honest with the next three points in its favor, but senior Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) made a layup and, after two free throws from PNW's Torrance Johnson, Spencer hit a three-pointer to push the Warrior lead to 12-8 with 14:35 left in the half.  Senior Nick Mutebi (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Univ. of Detroit Jesuit) responded with points on consecutive possessions.  He made a layup and sent home one of two free throw tries on the following possession.  Wayne State led 15-8 with seven minutes gone in the first half.

Later in the period and the score now 17-10, PNW's Lukas Vilkovsky hit a three-pointer, and after Moore missed a triple of his own, Richard Robertson hit another three-ball on the opposite end to cut the lead to one, 17-16, with 7:45 on the clock.

The Warriors countered with points on back-to-back possessions, getting a jumper from sophomore Karim Murray (Detroit, Mich. / Western International) and a layup from Spencer.  With the score at 21-16, the Pride hit a layup to get back within three, but the Green & Gold answered with an 8-2 run, culminating with a put-back from senior Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) to make it 29-20 with 6:00 to play in the half.  It also forced a quick timeout from Purdue Northwest.

The stoppage of play failed to benefit the Pride, however.  The run eventually reached 18-2, with a three-pointer junior Latin Davis (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Milan) and two triples from senior Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium).  PNW finished the scoring in the first half with a Johnson layup at the 38-second mark, but the Warrior lead had already swelled to 42-24.  The 18-point advantage stood at the half.

The second half started with a balanced effort from the two opponents, as both teams scored nine points in the first 5:19.  After PNW's Chris Dunn made a layup at the 14:41 mark to put the score at 51-33, teammate Richard Robertson made one of two free throw attempts.  Wayne State countered that attack with a 14-2 run that spanned over five minutes and included four points from Moore, five points from Key and five points from Booth.  A trey from Booth with 9:29 to play pushed WSU's lead to 29 (65-36) and forced a Pride timeout.

Robertson scored the next three points on a layup and a free throw, but freshman Darian Owens-White (Ypsilanti, Mich. / River Rouge) hit a three as the shot clock was expiring to push the lead back up to 29 (70-41) with 6:20 left.

The lead remained at a comfortable margin down the stretch and Wayne State was able to expand its rotation in the closing minutes.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 54.2 percent (32-of-59) from the floor, and made nine of its 16 triple attempts (56.3 percent).  Purdue Northwest made 22 of its 51 field goal attempts (43.1 percent), going 6-of-18 from beyond the arc (33.3 percent).

The Green & Gold out-rebounded the Pride 33-27, while also winning the assist battle (21-14).  Both teams had four blocks, with PNW earning the advantage in steals (7-6).

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Four players finished in double figures, led by Booth's 16 points.  Key scored 14 points, going 4-of-5 free the free throw line.  Spencer scored 12 pointsand contributed seven boards and four assists, while Moore had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.

LEADING THE PRIDE
Johnson led all scorers with 23 points, finishing with a double-double thanks to a 10-rebound effort.  Robertson contributed 16 points.

GOING DANCING
Thanks to Saturday's action, Wayne State had already clinched a GLIAC postseason berth heading into Sunday's contest.  The Warriors are fourth in the league (No. 1 in the GLIAC South), and can finish no worse than seventh. 

UP NEXT
Wayne State will return to the road again on Thursday, traveling to Saginaw Valley State on Thursday.  Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.