PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (7-16, 7-11 GLIAC) traveled to Lake Erie (8-16, 5-13 GLIAC) on Thursday night and never trailed in a 63-60 win.  The Warriors have won three straight games for the first time this season.
 
WSU has won four of their last five contests to keep its postseason hopes alive.  LEC's Trey Howard had a look as time expired to tie the game but solid defense pushed the guard out to 28 feet and his desperation heave missed everything.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) put Wayne State up three on its first possession with a triple from the top of the key.  Following a Michael Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) layup, the Warriors led 7-0 at the 16:20 mark of the first half.  Booth's jumper at the 15-minute mark extended the visitors lead to 12-2. 
 
A 5-0 run from Lake Erie, which included a triple from Collin Barth cut WSU's lead to five (16-11) with 12:17 left to play before halftime.  Consecutive layups from the Storm pulled LEC within three (18-15) at the 9:38 mark.  The teams traded baskets on five straight trips and Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) gave WSU a 25-20 lead with six minutes left in the period.  A nifty spin move and basket from Lewis at the 3:18 mark put the Green & Gold on top 33-26.  LEC ended the half on a 5-0 run to cut the halftime deficit to 35-31.  The Warriors shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the floor including three of four three-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Lewis connected from behind the arc to begin the second half and Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) followed with a jumper, giving the Warriors a 40-31 lead.  Four points Roy Alexander powered a 6-0 run as the Storm trimmed WSU's lead to three (40-37) with 12:23 remaining.  After technical were issued to both teams a George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) jumper extended the lead to 48-37 at the 10:31 mark.
 
Wayne State continued to lead by at least five until a corner three-pointer from Michael Morris cut the gap to four (61-57).  Trey Howard split a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession but pulled LEC within one with a driving layup with 20 seconds.  Booth hit two free throws to give WSU a 63-60 lead at the 16 second mark, which would be the final score.
 
LEADING THE WARRIORS
Booth paced WSU's offense with 19 points, while Lewis finished with 16 and Moore contributed 11 points.  Moore tallied a game-high nine rebounds and six assists.
 
BOX SCORE NOTES
WSU shot 46.5 percent from the floor, 54.5 percent from three-point range and missed one free throw to post a 94.4 clip from the charity stripe.
 
After shooting a season-high 60.9 percent in the first half, WSU needed to rely on its defense in the second stanza as it shot just 30 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes.
 
LEADING THE STORM
Andy Bosley led LEC with 11 points while Sean Howard scored 10 points.
 
UP NEXT
The Warriors will meet No. 21 ranked Ashland on Saturday at 3 p.m. as they look to strengthen their postseason chances.