DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (16-9, 13-8 GLIAC) entered the night needing a win and some help from around the league to secure a home GLIAC Quarterfinal game next week.  The Warriors stormed back to steal one from Saginaw Valley State (17-11, 10-11 GLIAC) 57-53 on Thursday night.  For much of the night it looked like WSU might be hosting a playoff game but a late surge from Lake Superior State gave the Lakers the fourth and final home playoff game on Feb. 28th.

The Warriors trailed nearly the entire second half but ended the game on a 12-0 run to win by four.  WSU also honored its four departing seniors, including Clark Bishop, Michael Lewis, Joel Ndondo and Gavin Toma prior to tip-off.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Fittingly on Senior Night, the first 10 points were scored by seniors as Wayne State led 8-3 after a Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) jumper at the 16-minute mark followed by a jumper by Joel Ndondo (Ajax, Ont.).  Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) started to find his rhythm and connected from 12-feet to put the Warriors on top 16-14 with 11 minutes left to play in the opening half.  Back-to-back triples for the Cardinals gave the visitors a 24-21 advantage at the 5:57 mark.  SVSU extended its lead to 29-25 before the Green & Gold hit two quick jumpers to tie the game at 29-29 just before halftime.

- SVSU came out sharp in the second half and led 38-32 at the 16:44 mark.  Another triple from SVSU's Garrett Hall gave the Cards their largest lead of the night at 41-32 with 14 minutes to play.  The Warriors hung tough and began to slowly chip away at the visitors' lead.  Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) hit his first three-pointer of the night at the 10:35 mark to trim the deficit to 45-39.  However, C.J. Turnage swung the momentum back to the SVSU bench and put the Cardinals up 49-41 with 7:07 remaining.   A conventional three-point play from Key kept the Warriors within striking distance (51-45) at the 5:11 mark.  Key would split a pair of free throws to pull WSU within three, 53-50, with 3:49 left to play.  Another bucket from Key made it a one-point game at the two-minute mark before Booth connected on his second trey of the night to give the Warriors their first lead (55-53) since the seven minute mark of the first half, a span of nearly 26 minutes.  A steal by Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) and a fast break layup from Booth sealed the win and gave WSU a 57-53 victory.

WSU LEADERS
- Key scored 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting to lead WSU.  Booth tallied 10 points, while Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) pulled down 12 rebounds.

SVSU LEADERS
- Hall paced the SVSU offense with 13 points, while Wade Gelhaus scored 11 points and Turnage contributed 10.

UP NEXT
- The Warriors will enter the GLIAC Tournament as the fifth seed and will travel to fourth-seeded Michigan Tech on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. GLIAC Quarterfinal matchup.