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Wayne State University Athletics

Brailen Neely
A season-high 28 points from Brailen Neely was not enough on Thursday vs. SVSU.
76
Winner Saginaw Valley SV 5-11,3-11 GLIAC
74
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 12-6,12-5 GLIAC
Winner
Saginaw Valley SV
5-11,3-11 GLIAC
76
Final
74
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne
12-6,12-5 GLIAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Saginaw Valley SV 36 40 76
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 28 46 74

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant Media Relations Director

Men's Basketball Upset in GLIAC Quarterfinals

The Warriors lost 76-74 on Thursday against Saginaw Valley State.

HAMMOND, Ind. -- The Wayne State university men's basketball program (12-6 overall) lost its GLIAC Quarterfinal matchup against Saginaw Valley State (5-11 Overall) 76-74 on Thursday afternoon. The Cardinals led for 38 of the 40 minutes as WSU held onto a 54-53 advantage with just over seven minutes to play but SVSU did enough down the stretch to pull off the upset to avenge two Warrior wins on Feb. 19-20 in Detroit.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The upset-minded Cardinals started quickly by scoring the first nine points of the contest until a a triple from redshirt senior Brailen Neely (Detroit, Mich. / Western International) put WSU on the board at the 17:08 mark.  The deficit grew to 12 after a Darnell Hoskins, Jr. jumper made it 16-4 with 14:55 left to play in the opening half.  The slow start continued for the Green & Gold and SVSU took advantage, leading 18-6 on a Myles Belyeu jumper at the 12:54 mark.  After a Neely jumper trimmed the deficit to 10, Delano Smith made it 20-8 with a 12-foot jumper. 

A 5-0 run by Wayne State made it 20-13 and was capped by an offensive rebound and a put back by redshirt sophomore Avery Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron).  A 15-footer from redshirt junior Darian Owens-White (Detroit, Mich. / River Rouge) kept Wayne State close, 24-15, with 6:05 to play before halftime.  Two points by sophomore Kylin Grant (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) brought WSU within seven, 24-17, at the 5:29 mark.  A three-point play from Neely made it a six-point game, 26-20, with four minutes remaining.  The momentum stayed with Wayne State and a driving layup from Owens-White made it 26-22.  Freshman Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) got in on the action and his three-point play made it a 27-25 game with 2:05 left before halftime.  Back-to-back three-pointers from Belyeu slowed WSU's rally and made it 33-25.  A long-ranger jumper by freshman Mike Robinson (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Ann Arbor Huron) made it 33-28 at the 33-second mark.  However, a buzzer-beater from Smith put the halftime score at 36-28.

Neely opened the scoring in the second half with a pair of free throws to trim the deficit to 36-30.  A triple from junior Antonio Marshall (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) brought the Warriors withing three, 38-35, at the the 17:17 mark.  Two free throws by Neely made it a one-point game but five more points from Belyeu pushed the Cardinals ahead 43-37 with 15:38 left to play.  A three-point play from Lewis and an Owens-White triple made it 45-43 in favor of Saginaw Valley State.  Two points at the charity stripe by Lewis tied the game at 45-45 at the 14:06 mark.  Tre Garrett gave the Cards a 51-46 lead and a layup by Tyrik Singh made it 53-46 with 11:09 remaining.  Another three-point play by Lewis brought WSU within two, 53-51, with 9:09 left.  Wayne State took its first lead of the afternoon, 54-53, on a three-pointer from Owens-White at the 7:25 mark capping an 8-0 run.  

However, Belyeu continued to knock down shots and five straight points from him gave SVSU a 58-54 advantage with 5:37 remaining.  The Cardinal 7-0 run was ended by a three-point play by Lewis to make it 60-57 at the 4:21 to play.  SVSU drilled a three-pointer, extending its lead to 65-57 at the 2:54 mark.  The teams traded baskets and a 12-footer from Neely made it 67-61 in favor of SVSU with 1:51 left in regulation.  WSU trailed by six at the 1:16 mark after another bucket by Neely.  A steal by Marshall produced another two points from Neely, trimming the deficit to four, 69-65, with 54 seconds to play.  After two free throws from Hoskins, a deep three-pointer from Owens-White made it 71-68 at the 44-second mark.  Following a missed SVSU free throw on the front end of a one-and-one, Marshall sprinted for a layup on the other end to make it a one-point game with 29 seconds remaining.  Newly entered into the game, James Toohey made both of his free throws before Neely converted a layup with 20 seconds left, making it 73-72.  Toohey made two more at the charity stripe to give SVSU a 75-72 lead.  Once again, Neely had an answer and his jumper made it 75-74 at the 12-second mark.  The Cardinals missed the first of two free throws giving the Warriors a chance to take the lead but were unable to get a shot off.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Neely paced the WSU offense with 28 points, while Owens-White had 19 and Lewis finished with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.

LEADING THE CARDINALS
Belyeu was the story as he scored a game-high 35 points on 14-of-26 shooting, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc.  Smith had 16 points and six boards, while Hoskins chipped in 12.

ONE BIG THING
Both teams shot the ball well but Wayne State was never able to recover from a 20-8 deficit to start the game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
WSU turned the ball over 14 times compared to SVSU's nine, which the Cardinals turned into 13 points.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will have to wait until 10:30 PM on Sunday night when the NCAA announces the six-team field for the Midwest Regional.  The Warriors were second in Wednesday's release prior to dropping their postseason opener.



 
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