DETROIT -- The maturing Wayne State University men's basketball team (2-7, 2-4 GLIAC) looked to build off a solid performance against Grand Valley State on Friday when a surging Ferris State (10-2, 6-0 GLIAC) team visited the Matthaei on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs held off a few WSU runs to secure their 10th straight victory with an 85-69 win over the Warriors.
A three-pointer from Noah King gave FSU a 15-9 lead at the 14:11 mark of the first half.
Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) found room underneath the basket for a layup to keep the Warriors close at 22-16 with just under eight minutes left before halftime. Wayne State would trail by six points on two more occasions in the first half but could never come any closer.
The Bulldogs would extend their lead to 41-27 at the break ending the stanza on a 9-1 run.
Gavin Toma (Troy, Mich. / Southfield Christian) led the Warriors with eight first-half points while the league's fourth leading scorer Drew Lehman tallied 10 points to lead both teams. FSU shot 44.4 percent (15-36) from the floor including five three-pointers in the opening half.
Three minutes into the second half FSU led by a game-high 17 points after a bucket from Jared Stolicker.
The resilient Warriors answered with an 11-4 run, which included two triples from Toma, to trim the visitors' lead to 50-40 at the 16-minute mark. A turnaround jumper from
Tristan Wilson (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) put the Warriors behind six points again (56-50) with 14 minutes to play. The gap would never be less than six the rest of the way as the Bulldogs seemed to always have a counter to WSU's attack.
Down the stretch, FSU found its offensive rhythm and knocked down its free throws to cruise to the 85-69 victory.
Toma led the Warriors with 16 points while
Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) and
Daniel Ball (Dearborn Heights, Mich. / Allen Park Cabrini) each contributed 12 points.
Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) pulled down a career-high and game-high eight rebounds. Lehman led all scorers with 22 points as three other Bulldogs finished in double digits.
WSU begins a three-game road trip on Thursday at Hillsdale with tip-off scheduled for 8 PM.
