MARQUETTE, Mich. -- In the final game of the regular season, the Wayne State University men's basketball program (15-10 overall, 13-7 GLIAC) secured a home playoff game with a 71-70 win at Northern Michigan (15-12 overall, 12-8 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon. Coming into the contest, the Warriors could have been seeded anywhere from three to six but the victory puts WSU into the number three seed. WSU led by as many as 11 points in the second half and held off a late NMU comeback attempt to win a thriller.
The Warriors will host a GLIAC Tournament game for the seventh time in program history and the first time since 2013.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- WSU led 5-2 early in the first half after a three-pointer by
Latin Davis, Jr. (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Milan) at the 18:09 mark. A
Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) layup pushed the visitor's lead to nine, 13-4, with 14:15 left in the stanza. Two more points from Key gave the Warriors a 10-point lead at the 12:56 mark.
Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) completed an old fashioned three-point play, extending WSU's lead to 20-9 and Key added a jumper, giving Wayne State a 13-point lead with 11:17 remaining. Four straight triples for the Wildcats brought the home team within three, 24-21, at the six-minute mark. A
George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) jumper slowed the Northern Michigan rally and gave the Green & Gold a 28-23 lead with 5:11 to play. NMU tied the game at 33-33 at the 3:12 mark but four quick points from Moore put WSU back on top 39-36. However, NMU scored the final four points of the half and led 40-39 at halftime.
- The Warriors regained the lead to begin the second half on a turn around jumper by Key at the 19:32 mark. A couple big shots from
Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) gave Wayne State a 50-45 advantage with 15:07 left to play. Two layups by Moore pushed WSU's lead to nine, 56-47, with just over 12 minutes remaining. Two free throws from Spencer grew the lead to 11, 58-47, at the 11:35 mark. A Naba Echols layup brought NMU within nine, 60-51, with 10:07 left in regulation. A steal by Booth led to a fast break dunk from Spencer to keep WSU ahead by nine points, 64-55, at the 7:03 mark. The Wildcats trailed by four, 66-62, after a contested layup by Echols went in with 4:45 left to play. Booth answered with a tough layup of his own to give WSU a 68-62 on the following possession. The back-and-forth affair continued as Key drove to the rim and gave the Warriors a six-point lead at the 3:43 mark. Will Carius knocked down a jumper with 1:45 to play to cut the deficit to three, 71-68. Echols connected on two free throws to bring the Wildcats within one with 1:09 remaining. A late NMU turnover after a missed WSU three-point attempt gave WSU the ball back and allowed Moore to head to the foul line after a foul was called on Isaiah Johnson. Moore missed both free throws and a loose ball led to a steal by Moore and a WSU timeout. With .03 of a second left Davis missed the front end of one-and-one on purpose to allow the clock to hit zeros and give WSU a 71-70 victory.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
- Key led WSU with 22 points, while Moore scored 16 points. Spencer finished with 14 points and Booth chipped in 10. Moore collected a team-high eight rebounds.
LEADING THE WILDCATS
- Echols scored a game-high 25 points and Carius connected on five triples to post a 22-point and nine-rebound game.
UP NEXT
- Wayne State will host Michigan Tech on Wednesday night with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The game will be live on Comcast CN900 as well as on the radio on WDTK (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).
