DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (3-13 overall, 3-10 GLIAC) suffered a heartbreaking 86-85 overtime loss Thursday at home to Malone University (4-14 overall, 1-12 GLIAC).

HOW IT HAPPENED

There were six lead changes in the first 18 minutes plus three ties including 35-35 at intermission.

Malone led by seven (22-15) with 9:08 left in the first half, before the Warriors went on a 20-9 run to take a four point advantage (35-31) with 93 seconds remaining.  The visiting Pioneers scored the final four points prior to halftime.  MU made its first five three-point attempts, but were just 8-of-15 at the foul line.  Junior guard Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) led WSU with 10 points at the break.

The second half was back-and-forth with the Warriors holding a four point lead (44-40) after a triple by sophomore Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly), but Malone answered with a 9-2 spurt to take a 49-46 lead.  Wayne State responded with a 7-0 run for a 53-49 lead.  MU scored the next seven points and led for the next three minutes before WSU tallied six of the next eight points for a 63-62 margin.

Two Mitchell Spotleson triples sandwiched around a Warrior free throw gave the Pioneers a 68-64 lead with 3:50 left.  The MU lead was seven (75-68) with 1:49 remaining, but a driving lay-up by sophomore guard Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) cut the deficit to five.  Sophomore forward Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) grabbed the rebound on the missed free throw, then split a pair from the charity stripe.  Malone's Brian Stone was fouled with 63 seconds left in regulation but missed his foul shot in a one-and-one situation.

WSU pulled within two (75-73) as Moore drove the lane and dished off to Key for an easy lay-up.  Booth tied up Malone's Jay Parker on the in-bounds pass and the possession arrow gave the ball back to the Warriors.  Bishop missed a lay-up but Key's one-handed put-back knotted the game at 75 and finished off a 7-0 run by Wayne State.

Parker made two free throws in a double bonus situation with 15.0 seconds left, but Booth was fouled driving down the lane with 4.9 seconds on the clock.  He made both free throw attempts sandwiched around a Malone timeout.  Parker went coast-to-coast with the in-bounds, but his last second lay-up attempt was reviewed by the officials who waves off the original good call sending the game into overtime.

The Pioneers scored the first seven points of the extra session as the Warriors were unable to connect until Booth drained a triple with just under two minutes remaining.  After Malone's Stephen O'Daniel split a pair from the charity stripe, junior Michael Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) made both of his foul shots to cut the WSU deficit to three (85-82) with 1:09 left.

Parker then threw the ball out of bounds as he was dribbling through the key.  Neither team scored on its next possession, but Lewis drained a triple with 5.3 seconds left to tie the game at 85.  Parker went coast-to-coast and was fouled with 0.6 seconds left.  He made the first and purposely missed the second not giving Wayne State a chance for a desperation shot.

LEADING THE WARRIORS

Booth led WSU with game-high totals of 21 points and four steals.  Moore contributed 15 points and tied with Bishop for the team lead with six rebounds.  Bishop contributed 14 points, while Lewis and Key each tallied 11 points.

TEAM STATS RECAP

After shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor during regulation (32-of-68), the Warriors were just 2-of-8 in overtime.  WSU finished 6-of-16 (38 percent) from beyond the arc and 11-of-14 (79 percent) from the foul line.

Malone cooled off in the overtime period as well shooting just 33 percent on 2-of-6 to finish at 53 percent (26-of-49).  The Pioneers made 10-of-17 triple tries (59 percent) and were 24-of-35 (69 percent) in free throws.

LEADING THE OPPOSITION

Parker scored a team-best 18 points off the bench and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds to lead six Pioneers in double figures.  Brian Stone added 16 points, while Spotleson chipped in with 14 points.

UP NEXT

Wayne State will play six of its next seven games on the road starting with a 3 p.m. contest on Saturday at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio.  The Warriors travel to Findlay on Monday (Feb. 1) and Tiffin next Thursday (Feb. 4), before its next home game on Feb. 6.  This game will be replayed twice on Comcast/CN 900:  Jan. 31 at 10 a.m. and Feb. 3 at 10 a.m.