UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (13-14 overall, 7-11 GLIAC) claimed a spot in the GLIAC tournament in dramatic fashion with a 75-74 triumph at Saginaw Valley State University (13-14 overall, 6-12 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon in a game that saw 10 points scored in the final 51 seconds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
In a slow start, each team scored just three points in first three minutes of the contest as SVSU's Toodles Seal connected from beyond the arc, as did Warrior sophomore Tamario Adley (Detroit, Mich. / Warren De La Salle (Macomb CC)) on the ensuing possession.

A jumper by sophomore guard Carmelo Harris (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) tied the game at 5-5 and ignited a 6-0 run by the Warriors.  Back-to-back jumpers by Adley increased the WSU lead to 9-5.

Wayne State led 16-7 about 7:30 into the game on a triple by senior Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) and an offensive rebound a put back by freshman guard Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.).

The teams split the next eight points 4-4, before sophomore center Kareem Aburashed (West Bloomfield, Mich. Detroit Country Day (Macomb CC)) and Briggs each drained a triple, and junior Colin Golson, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. Ferndale (Siena / Eastern Michigan) connected on a jumper for a 28-12 lead with just over nine minutes left before intermission.

SVSU tallied nine of the next 11 points to pull within nine (30-21), before a lay-up by freshman Rob Lee, Jr. (Flint, Mich. / Beecher)  and two fouls shots by Golson made it 34-21.

The Cardinals answered with a 7-0 run before an offensive rebound and lay-up by Lee pushed the margin to eight (36-28).  Saginaw Valley ended the half on a 9-2 spurt to cut the Warrior lead to one (38-37) at halftime.

Second Half
The contest was tied twice in the first 80 seconds after intermission, before a bucket by Williams and a dunk by Lee made it 46-32 in favor of the guests.

A Tre Garrett lay-up with just over 15 minutes remaining gave SVSU its first lead since 5-3.  Wayne State tied the contest at 56-56 on a triple by Lee about five minutes later.

Saginaw Valley had leads from one to five points (64-59) for almost seven minutes until another long-range shot by Lee gave the Warriors a 69-67 lead.  Seal drained a triple with 92 seconds left to put the Cardinals in front 70-69.

After each team missed a field goal attempt, Golson was fouled on a rebound with 50.6 seconds remaining and made both free throws in a one-and-one situation for a 71-70 WSU lead.

Garrett gathered an offensive rebound and made a lay-up with 35 seconds remaining putting the Cardinals in front 72-71.

Following an SVSU timeout, Williams made a step-back jumper from beyond the foul line with 10.4 seconds remaining in this see-saw affair as WSU re-gained the advantage at 73-72.

Garret missed a driving lay-up with six seconds left, but SVSU's Kevonne Taylor followed with the offensive rebound/dunk with 4.8 seconds left.  

Harris took the in-bounds pass and went coast-to-coast as the ball went through the hoop as the backboard lit up.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 54 percent (28-of-52) from the field compared to SVSU's 41 percent (28-of-68).  WSU went 8-of-15 (53 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Cardinals were 7-of-20 (35 percent).  The Warriors made 11-of-15 (73 percent) foul shots, with Saginaw Valley connecting on 11-of-17 free throws (65 percent).  WSU had a 38-32 edge in rebounds, although SVSU had 15 offensive boards.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Lee connected on three triples in scoring a team-high 22 points.  Golson contributed 12 points, while Briggs added 10 off the bench.  Williams and Lee tied for team-high rebounding honors with eight boards each.

LEADING THE CARDINALS
Garrett notched a double-double with game-high totals of 24 points and 11 rebounds.  Seal made five triples in scoring 23 points, while Freddie McIntosh chipped in with 13 points.

UP NEXT
The GLIAC Tournament begins on Wednesday with quarterfinal action.  WSU will travel to Sault Ste. Marie for a 7 p.m. contest at Lake Superior State.  Wayne State fell 64-62 at home in late January to the Lakers as the guests out-scored the hosts 13-3 down the stretch.  The two teams met 16 days ago in the Soo with LSSU escaping with a 92-90 double overtime win.