DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (9-3, 6-2 GLIAC) returned to the Matthaei on Thursday night and fell 63-58 to Michigan Tech (7-8, 5-3 GLIAC).  The game signaled the beginning of the divisional play in the league as the rest of the regular season will feature GLIAC North Division opponents.  It was the first home loss of the season for the first-place Warriors.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) started the scoring for WSU with a triple at the 19:22 mark.  Five more points from Booth gave the Warriors a 10-3 advantage before the first media timeout.  The hot-shooting continued as Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) connected from behind the arc with 13:32 remaining, putting the Green & Gold on top 19-8.  The Huskies trimmed WSU's lead to 21-16 at the 8:28 mark.  Booth drove to the hoop and scooped in a layup to end a nearly four-minute scoring drought, giving WSU a 23-16 lead with just under eight minutes to play in the opening half.  WSU led 28-23 at the final media timeout of the half.  MTU tied the game at 28-28 with a three-pointer but Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) gave WSU a 30-28 lead just before halftime.

- After MTU tied the game at 30-30 early in the second half, WSU took a 36-30 advantage on a put back from Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) at the 17:31 mark.  A steal and a layup from Booth created some breathing room. 38-35, with 14:28 to play.  WSU's defense continued to cause problems for the visitors, holding the Huskies without a field goal for nearly five minutes.  However, a triple at the 12:27 mark pulled MTU within two at 42-40.  The reigning GLIAC North Division Player of the Week Tommy Lucca connected on a trey to give MTU its first lead of the night, 43-42, with 11:38 to play.  Booth tied the contest at 45-45 with a triple at the 8:56 mark and gave WSU a one-point lead, 50-49, with 4:10 to play on a 12-foot jumper.  Booth's fourth and final three-pointer of the night would stake the Warriors to a 53-52 advantage but that would be the last lead of the game for WSU.  MTU scored 11 of the final 14 points to win 63-58.

DEFENSIVE STRUGGLE
- Wayne State held MTU to 63 points on 41.4 percent shooting.  The Huskies came into the contest averaging 74.2 points per night and shooting 44.1 percent.  However, the Warriors could not overcome its worst shooting performance of the season of 36.8 percent.

WSU LEADERS
- Booth finished with 22 points, while Key posted his first career double-double with 16 points and a career-best 11 rebounds.

MTU LEADERS
- Lucca led the Huskies with 17 points, while Jordan Chartier contributed 15 points and Bryan Heath added 13.

UP NEXT
- WSU will welcome Northern Michigan to Detroit for a 3 p.m. contest on Saturday to conclude the home stand.  If you are unable to make it to the Matthaei, the game can be seen on Comcast CN900 or tune in to WDTK (1400 AM & 101.5 FM) for the radio broadcast.