MIDLAND, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (15-8, 12-7 GLIAC) held off a late comeback attempt to clinch a spot in the GLIAC Tournament for the first time since 2012-13 with a 77-68 win over Northwood (5-23, 3-16 GLIAC) on Thursday night.
Winners of three straight road games and six of eight, the Warriors continue to push to improve their seeding for the playoffs, which begins on Feb. 28th. Â With two more victories, WSU could be looking at a home GLIAC Quarterfinal game inside the Matthaei.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- An early three-point play from
Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) gave the Warriors a 5-2 advantage at the 18:14 mark. Â A 12-foot turn around jumper from
Michael Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) trimmed NU's lead to 12-11 with 14:40 left in the first half. Â
Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) gave WSU a 15-14 lead at the 12-minute mark with a tough, contested layup. Â The rally continued with buckets from
George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) and Lewis. Â Lewis added a free throw after his basket to convert the three-point play and push run to 7-0, giving WSU a 20-14 lead. Â The Timberwolves went without a field goal from the 14:12 mark to the 7:15 mark. Â The Warriors began to pull away, 31-19, after a triple from Spencer with just under three minute left in the first half. Â Spencer connected once again from behind the arc at the 1:15 mark followed by a trey from Bishop and WSU led 37-24 at halftime.
- Three minutes into the second half, Wayne State led 43-31 following two points from
Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech).  Spencer's third triple of the night and a Key layup on the next possession gave WSU its largest lead of the game, 58-40, at the 12:24 mark.  Consecutive three-pointers from Northwood and an old-fashioned three-point play pulled the home team within 11, 60-49, with 8:10 to play.  After another basket from the Timberwolves, Booth slowed the comeback attempt with a layup at the seven-minute mark, to give WSU a 62-51 lead.  However, NU continued to execute offensively and trailed 62-56 with 5:48 remaining, riding a 16-2 run.  Spencer extended the lead to 67-58 with his fourth long ball of the game at the 4:56 mark.  The lead never dipped below 10 until late in the game as Wayne State held on for a 77-68 triumph.
WSU LEADERS
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Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) collected his second straight double-double (third career) with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Â Spencer led WSU with 19 points, while Key (14), Bishop (11) and Bishop (11) all finished in double figures.
NORTHWOOD LEADERS
- Schaub tallied a game-high 21 points.
UP NEXT
- Wayne State will travel to Lake Superior State on Saturday for a 3 p.m. key divisional matchup. Â Fans can listen to the action on WDTK (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).