HOUGHTON, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (14-10 overall, 12-7 GLIAC) dropped a tough overtime contest 81-78 win at Michigan Tech (14-12 overall, 11-8 GLIAC) on Thursday night. WSU led by seven with four minutes left to play in regulation but a late charge by the Huskies forced the extra stanza where MTU would eventually win the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Warriors trailed by two after a
Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) layup at the 17:48 mark of the first half and two free throws from senior
Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) tied the game with 15:29 to play before halftime. Moore gave the Green & Gold a two-point advantage with a bucket at the 13:17 mark. The visitors lead grew to six on a jumper by Key with 11:13 remaining. After MTU took a 17-16 lead, senior
Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) scored seven straight points to propel the Warriors to a 23-19 lead at the 5:23 mark. A layup from Moore with 56 seconds left before halftime extended WSU's lead to 31-24. At halftime, Wayne State went to the locker rooms with a 31-26 advantage.
- At the 18:11 mark of the second half, senior
George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) connected from behind the arc to give Wayne State a 38-33 lead. WSU took its largest lead of the night, 46-37, after two free throws from senior
Nick Mutebi (Farmington Hills, Mich. / U of D Jesuit) with 14:37 to play. Booth pushed the lead back to seven, 52-45, with a layup at the 9:58 mark. A tip-in by Moore kept WSU's advantage at seven, 63-56, with just over four minutes remaining in the contest. The Huskies trimmed the deficit to two at the 2:19 mark following a quick 5-0 rally. A layup by Kyle Monroe tied the game at 63-63 with 1:36 left to play. A WSU turnover gave MTU the ball with 16 seconds left and an opportunity to win the game. However, a steal by Key led to a fast break layup attempt by Moore but a blocked shot sent the game into overtime.
- Monroe scored the first five points of overtime and powered MTU to a 70-65 lead at the four-minute mark. Booth answered with a triple on the following possession to bring WSU within two. Wayne State was unable to tie the game as Moore missed the front end of a one-and-one. A basket from Booth made it 71-70 but an MTU three-pointer gave the Huskies a four-point lead with 1:40 left to play. The struggles at the charity stripe continued as Booth missed a pair of free throws. WSU trailed 75-71 with 41 seconds remaining. Moore cut the deficit in half with a layup, making it 75-73 with 27 seconds left to play. MTU split a pair of free throws and led to an opportunity for the Warriors to tie the game with 23 seconds left on the clock. Moore brought WSU within one, making two free throws with 17 seconds left to play. A late three-point play from Booth made it 79-78 in favor of the Huskies made things interesting with three seconds remaining. Two Bryan Heath free throws pushed the home lead to three, 81-78, and a desperation heave from Booth missed as MTU upset the Warriors.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
- Booth tallied a team-high 24 points, while Moore scored 18 points to become the third Warrior to join the 1,000-point club this season. Key also scored 18 points.
LEADING THE HUSKIES
- Monroe finished with a game-high 29 points and A.J. Grazulis posted a 19-point game.
UP NEXT
- The Warriors will stay up north and play at Northern Michigan on Saturday afternoon. A win over the Wildcats would give Wayne State the three-seed in the upcoming GLIAC Tournament and allow WSU to host an opening round playoff game.
