DETROIT — The Wayne State University men's basketball team (13-13 overall, 10-10 GLIAC) will head into next week's GLIAC Tournament with positive momentum.  Saturday afternoon inside the WSU Fieldhouse, the Warriors took care of Saginaw Valley State (13-15 overall, 7-13 GLIAC) 85-76 for the 2025-26 regular-season finale.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Wayne State couldn't have asked for a better start as it scored 23 of the game's first 26 points over the course of nearly 11 minutes of game time.

Seven different Warriors entered the scoring column during that span including five points apiece by Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) and Jon Brantley (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Brother Rice [Lafayette College]).

WSU shot 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the field in that stretch, 3-of-6 from behind the arc and 4-of-5 at the free throw line with just one turnover.

The away team didn't record its first made field goal until Kevonne Taylor's jumper at the 9:13 juncture.

From there until the final buzzer of the first half, the closest the Cardinals could get was 14 points at 23-9 (8:21 mark) and 30-16 (6:03).

With just 39 seconds left on the clock, Briggs gave the Green and Gold their biggest lead of the first 20 minutes at 24, 48-24.  The visitors countered with a layup on the other end to make it a 22-point affair (48-26) heading into the locker rooms.

Wayne State made nearly 53 percent (52.9, 18-of-34) of its looks from the floor compared to 34.6 percent (9-of-26) for Saginaw Valley State.  The Warriors racked up 10 assists to only four turnovers to the Cardinals five and 10, respectively.  WSU also made an impact behind the arc where it was 6-of-12 to SVSU's 2-of-11.

Second Half
Saginaw Valley State pulled within 17 twice in the first two-plus minutes, 50-33 and 52-35.

Wayne State didn't let that rattle them, continued to have an answer and proceeded to push its lead back to 20 or more on five different occasions -- 57-35, 59-38, 62-40, 64-43, and 66-46.

Following that final instance at the 12:11 mark, the Cardinals rattled off seven points in a row to cut the margin to 13, 66-53.  The Warriors were unrelenting and despite the spread being slimmed to 13 again at both 68-55 and 70-57, continued to punch back.

With the ledger at 70-57, Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) hit a trey and Briggs went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe, which stretched the hosts' advantage back to 18 (75-57).

With just over nine minutes remaining, SVSU was as close as 11 (75-64) at 7:21 and even nine as in the final score.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State finished at 50.8 percent (33-of-65) shooting for the game to Saginaw Valley State's 44.1 percent (26-of-59).  That effort marked the Green and Gold's seventh with a field goal percentage of at least 50 percent (5-2 record).  The Warriors splashed in more triples (10-of-20 to 7-of-20), but the Cardinals had the edge in free throws made (17-of-24) to 9-of-10).  SVSU tallied just as many assists as turnovers (11) while WSU notched twice as many, 18 and nine, respectively.  Wayne State's bench came up big with 42 points to Saginaw Valley State's 30.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
A pair of Warriors reached the 20-point plateau in Jordan Briggs (24) and Carlos Paul III (20) while Chris Mutebi (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Univ. of Detroit Jesuit) chipped in 11, which tied his career high.  Marshall Thorn (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth [Schoolcraft C.C.]) corralled nine rebounds, Paul III dished out four assists and so did Jalen Jenkins (Belleville, Mich. [Macomb C.C.]).  Defensively, Mutebi also finished with two steals and Bryce Esman (Metamora, Mich. / Oxford) blocked a pair of shot attempts.

LEADING THE CARDINALS
Four Cardinals scored 11 or more in Triston Nichols (16), Bryson Huckeby (13), Kevonne Taylor (12), and Xavier thomas (11).  Taylor garnered a double-double as well with 10 boards to go with four blocks.  Thomas accounted for a trio of dimes and Huckeby registered three takeaways.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will hit the road for the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals on the night of Wednesday, March 4.  The sixth-seeded Warriors will be at third-seeded Grand Valley State (22-6 overall, 15-5 GLIAC) for the league's round of eight.  During the regular season, the home team won each of their two matchups.