NORTH CANTON, Ohio – The Wayne State University men's basketball team (4-13 overall, 4-10 GLIAC) led wire-to-wire in posting an 83-76 triumph at Walsh University (9-9 overall, 7-7 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After an offensive foul called on Cavalier Chall Montgomery, Warrior junior forward Michael Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) drained a triple off a fed from sophomore guard Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly).  Neither team would score for the next 2:30 until WSU sophomore guard Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) connected from beyond the arc.

Walsh's Trey Fletcher scored the game's next five points before Wayne State tallied the next eight points for a nine point advantage (14-5).  After a fast-break lay-up by junior guard Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance), sophomore center Tristan Wilson (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) scored the final six points of the run.

Walsh's Will Parker tip-in with just under nine minutes left in the first half cut the WSU margin to two (19-17), but the Warriors answered with a 6-0 run that began with a bucket by redshirt freshman Nick Mutebi (Farmington Hills, Mich. / University of Detroit Jesuit HS) and concluded with a pair of field goals by Bishop.

After Montgomery split a pair from the charity stripe, Bishop drained back-to-back three's pushing the Wayne State lead to 12 (31-19).  Walsh responded with a 9-0 run, but WSU finished the first half outscoring the hosts 11-7 to lead 42-35 at intermission.

The Warriors shot a blistering 63 percent (17-of-27) from the field in the first half, including 5-of-8 from three-point range.  Meanwhile, Walsh shot 39 percent (13-of-33) from the floor, but just 17 percent (2-of-12) from behind the arc.  Wayne State had 22 points in the paint but shot just four free throws, while the Cavaliers were 7-of-9 from the foul line.

A fast-break dunk by Wilson at the 19:17 mark pushed the lead to nine.  A triple by Booth followed by a lay-up from sophomore forward Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) increased WSU's advantage to 13 (55-42) with just over 14 minutes remaining.

Sophomore swingman George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) connected from beyond the arc just past the mid-point of the second half giving the Warriors their largest lead of the game at 15 points (64-49).

Wilson's bucket just before the shot clock expired with 5:38 remaining pushed the lead back to nine (70-61).  Seven consecutive points by Walsh, including five by Fletcher made it a two-point game (70-68) with 4:39 left.

After the teams traded field goals, Booth drained a long two and Walsh misfired on its possession.  

Wayne State sealed the win by making 9-of-10 free throws in the final 78 seconds.  Prior to that point, the Cavaliers had 24 free throw attempts to eight for the Warriors.

LEADING THE WARRIORS

Wilson tallied a team-high 19 points along with a game-best four blocked shots.  Bishop contributed 16 points and a team-best seven rebounds, while Booth added 15 points and Spencer chipped in a career-high 11 points.

TEAM STATS RECAP

The Warriors shot 50 percent in the second half to finish at 57 percent (30-of-53) from the field, compared to 37 percent (25-of-67) for Walsh.  WSU was tremendous from beyond the arc shooting 54 percent (7-of-13), while the Cavaliers were 24 percent (6-of-25).  Wayne State made 16-of-18 (89 percent) from the charity stripe, with WU making 83 percent (20-of-24) of its free throw attempts.

Wayne State had a 39-30 rebounding edge, plus had a 37-6 edge in bench points.

LEADING THE OPPOSITION

Fletcher had game-high totals 27 points and eight rebounds.

UP NEXT

Wayne State will play the third of five games in a 10-day span Monday evening at Findlay with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m.