MIDLAND, Mich. -- Coming off back-to-back wins, the Wayne State University men's basketball team (7-15 overall, 4-14 GLIAC) won its third straight game, 76-66 at Northwood (14-12 overall, 9-9 GLIAC) on Thursday night.  The Warriors led by as many as 14 and held off a later charge by Northwood.  WSU collected its fifth road win of the season despite an extremely short bench with freshman forward Nate Talbot (Lake Orion, Mich.) out to an illness.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The game started slow for both sides as the Warriors led 4-2 on a jumper from senior guard Karim Murray (Detroit, Mich. / Western International) at the 18:03 mark of the first half.  A three-point play by sophomore guard Antonio Marshall (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) kept WSU in front 9-6 with 16 minutes to play in the stanza.  NU took a 12-11 advantage following a triple from Danny Kolp at the 14:11 mark but back-to-back buckets by Murray swung the momentum back to the Green & Gold.  Wayne State used a 7-0 run, including a triple by senior guard Brailen Neely (Detroit, Mich. / Western International) to extend its lead to 25-14 with 9:13 left before halftime.  A layup by Murray at the 6:22 mark pushed the visitors' lead to 31-18 but the Timberwolves stormed back with an 8-0 run to trim the WSU's lead to 31-26 with five minutes to play.  The Warriors went to the locker room leading 41-33 at halftime paced by Murray's 25 points.

Wayne State started the second half strong and led by 14, 49-35, following a jumper from freshman forward Kylin Grant (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) and a free throw by Neely at the 18:16 mark.  WSU continued to control the tempo and a three-pointer from Marshall kept the margin at 14, 54-40, with 14:58 remaining.  Northwood trimmed its deficit to seven by scoring eight straight points, while Wayne State went nearly four minutes without scoring.  Graduate forward James Gordon IV (Shelbyville, Ky. / Chicago Simeon) ended the drought with a 12-foot jumper at the 11:06 mark to give WSU a 56-47 lead.  With just under eight minutes to play, WSU led 62-51 following layups by Neely and Gordon.  However, the T-Wolves would not go away and pulled within four, 64-60, at the 4:36 mark after Jack Ammerman scored nine consecutive points.  The WSU advantage shrunk to two, 64-62, with 4:03 remaining in the contest.  A basket by Gordon slowed NU's rally and gave Wayne State a 66-62 lead at the 3:42 mark.  After Evan Lowden made it a two-point game, two free throws by Neely and a bucket from Grant stretched WSU's lead to six, 70-64, with 85 seconds left in regulation.  The Warriors were able to run out the final seconds off the clock and secure a 76-66 win.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Murray finished with a season-best 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting, falling one point shy of his career-high.  Neely (16), Grant (11) and Marshall (10) also scored in double figures.

LEADING THE TIMBERWOLVES
Ammerman scored 18 points, while Lowden has 12 points and Trey McBride chipped in 11 points.

ONE BIG THING
WSU shot 56 percent from the floor compared to NU's 39 percent field goal percentage.

UP NEXT
The Warriors will play their final road contest of the season on Saturday at Saginaw Valley State on Saturday afternoon with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m.