GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.  – The Wayne State University men's basketball team (12-8 overall, 10-5 GLIAC) earned its fourth consecutive win Thursday night, defeating host Grand Valley State (11-11 overall, 6-8 GLIAC) 66-60 at the off-campus DeltaPlex.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Warriors trailed early after Jake Van Tubbergen hit a jump shot 15 seconds into the contest, but fired off a 7-0 run thanks to two buckets by senior Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) and a three-pointer from senior Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium).

After Drake Baar hit a layup with 16:20 left in the half, Key scored four straight points off of two free throws and a jumper.  That gave Key eight points in the first 5:29, and it gave Wayne State an 11-4 lead with 14:31 left in the first half.  Van Tubbergen hit a jumper, but Key got to 10 points thanks to another jumper of his own.  That made it 13-6 with 13:07 left in the frame.  GVSU answered WSU's strong start with an 11-2 run,and going ahead 17-15 at the 9:01 mark.

The Green & Gold took the lead back thanks to jumpers from freshman Darian Owens-White (Ypsilanti, Mich. / River Rouge) on consecutive possessions.  With the score now at 19-17 and 7:05 left in the half, the teams began to go basket-for-basket with each other.  In just over a two minute span, WSU outscored GVSU 5-4, moving the Warrior lead to 24-21 with 4:53 to play in the stanza. 

In the late stages of the half, Wayne State started to gain momentum.  Key made a jumper with 4:09 to play in the first half to make it 26-21.  Junior Latin Davis, Jr. (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Milan) hit a three-pointer, and with 3:38 on the clock, WSU had its biggest lead to that point (eight), and found itself up 29-21.

Both teams saw a two-minute scoring drought, but Grand Valley State's Chris Pearl ended the standstill with a jumper at the 1:30 mark.  WSU got another bucket by Key, who finished the half with 14 points, making the score 31-23 with 1:02 to play.  In the closing minute, Pearl hit a layup, but senior Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) closed the half with a layup and an and-one free throw off of a foul.  Wayne State led 34-25 at intermission.

The good fortunes for WSU continued in the second half, as the Warriors started the period on an 11-4 run that spanned the first 5:06.   In that segment, senior George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) scored seven points.  Key continued to stand out as well, contributing a defensive rebound, an assist and a block.  With 14:54 to play, WSU suddenly led 45-29.

Grand Valley State wasn't ready to go away just yet, however.  The Lakers went on a 12-0 run between the 13:29 mark and the 9:22 mark, taking the score from 47-31 to 47-41 with the stretch run approaching.  Key ended the Laker scoring streak by hitting a jumper with 8:58 left, but GVSU hit back-to-back jumpers to get within two (49-47).  Key once again came up big, nailing a jumper with 7:42 to play, moving the game back to two possessions (51-47) at the media timeout.

Out of the stoppage, Key came up big again with a tip-in at the 6:48 mark.  But Key quickly picked up two fouls – his third and fourth, total – forcing coach David Greer to give him a breather with 6:08 still to play.

With the game's key player on the bench, Booth and Spencer stepped up big, hitting baskets on consecutive possessions.  With 4:49 left, WSU's lead was back up to eight (57-49).

GVSU had another rally in it.  This time, the Lakers got a free throw from Ben Lubitz, and two more from Hunter Hale on the next possession.  With 4:00 to play, Van Tubbergen hit a jumper to make it a one possession game at 57-54.

It was all Wayne State after that point.  Booth hit a jumper with 2:50 to play, pushing the lead to 59-54.  As both teams failed to generate an offense, the turning point may have been at the 1:09 point, when GVSU's Drake Baar was called for an offensive foul.  That led to Booth hitting a triple with 41 seconds on the clock, swelling the lead to 62-54.  By that point, it became a game of intentional fouls, with GVSU unable to close the gap within a manageable number.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the floor, including 4-of-15 from beyond the three-point arc (26.7 percent).  WSU made eight of its 10 free throw attempts.  GVSU won the rebounds battle (35-34) and had more assists than the Warriors (12-9).  Grand Valley State shot 40.6 percent (26-of-64) from the floor, made just two three pointers out of its 12 attempts (16.7 percent), and went 6-of-10 from the free throw line.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Key led all scorers with 22 points while grabbing seven rebounds, with four blocks and two assists.

Booth scored 14 points with four rebounds, while Spencer contributed 13 points and six rebounds.  Moore also finished in double figures, scoring 10 points to go with six rebounds.

LEADING THE LAKERS
Van Tubbergen led the Lakers with 14 points and eight rebounds.  Chris Dorsey scored 12 points with five rebounds and three assists, and Baar chipped in with 10 points.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will return home to face Purdue Northwest in the Pride's first visit to Matthaei.  The game, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, has been moved to Sunday due to an impending snowstorm.  Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.