DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (9-4, 6-3 GLIAC) dropped its third straight contest, 75-71, on Saturday vs. Northern Michigan (5-9, 3-6 GLIAC).  WSU was unable to hold onto a 40-38 halftime lead as NMU outscored the Warriors 37-31 in the second half to secure the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Wildcats jumped out to a 6-1 lead before WSU connected on its first field goal of the game at the 16:50 mark of the opening half.  A triple from NMU's Naba Echols gave the Wildcats an 11-5 lead with 15:35 to play in the stanza.  Back-to-back treys by Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) trimmed NMU's lead to 13-11 at the 13:42 mark.  George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) tied the contest at 13-13 with an acrobatic layup.  The lead changed hands three times before NMU extended its lead to 23-19 at the 8:39 mark.  A basket from Nick Mutebi (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Univ. of Detroit Jesuit) and two free throws from Michael Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) tied the game at 23-23 with 6:26 left to play.  Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) connected from deep to cap a 7-0 run and give WSU a 26-23 lead.  A pair of free throws from Lewis put the Warriors up 34-30 at the three-minute mark.  Lewis continued to be the go-to guy on offense and scored four straight points to keep WSU ahead 40-38 with under a minute to play.  Echols beat the first-half buzzer to make the halftime score 40-38 in favor Wayne State.

- The teams exchanged buckets early in the second half and NMU's Jordan Perez knocked down a triple to give the Wildcats a 46-44 lead until Booth tied the game at 46-46 on the next possession.  Lewis was unable to covert a three-point play but did tie the game, 48-48, at the 15:47 mark.  Both teams went without a field goal for nearly three minutes until Moore hit a trey, putting WSU up 51-50 with 13 minutes left to play.  Two more points from Moore tied the game at 55-55 at the midway point of the second stanza.  The game remained deadlocked at the six-minute mark, 59-59, after a Lewis basket.  Booth gave the Warriors a three-point lead with a three-pointer on the next possession.  A 9-0 run by the Wildcats gave the visitors a 68-62 lead with 1:55 left to play.  Booth hit a jumper and then a triple to cut NMU's lead to 72-70 at the 21 second mark.  The Wildcats did enough at the charity stripe down the stretch to collect the 75-71 victory.

WSU LEADERS
- Four Warriors finished with 10 or more points led by a season-high 20 from Lewis.  Key and Moore both scored 16 points, while Booth added 15.  Lewis and Key both notched double-doubles as the two forwards grabbed 11 rebounds each.

NMU LEADERS
- Echols tallied a game-high 25 points, while Isaiah Johnson contributed 17 points.

UP NEXT
- Wayne State will travel to Grand Valley State on Thursday for a 8:00 p.m.  You can listen to the action on WDTK (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).