DETROIT – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team traveled to the new WSU Fieldhouse to take on Wayne State University in the final contest of the calendar year on Saturday.

The Cardinals took control of the game midway through the second half and used a 21-4 run to secure a 67-55 win. The victory moves SVSU to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

How it Happened:

• The short-handed Warriors started the first half with a pair of 3-pointers to take an early 6-2 lead over the Cardinals.
• Tre Garrett hit a layup with 13:26 to play in the first half to give the Cardinals a 13-11 lead.
• Tyler Witz took over on the inside in the first half, scoring eight consecutive Cardinal points to give SVSU a 21-16 lead.
• SVSU went cold from the field late in the first half and WSU took advantage to build a 28-25 lead at the break.
• WSU opened the second half on a 6-0 run and led by nine less than two minutes following the break.
• The Cardinal defense clamped down the rest of the way and SVSU chipped away at the deficit.
• Delano Smith hit a jump shot to put the Cardinals up 40-39 with 11:51 to play.
• The Cardinals went on a game-clinching 21-4 run over an eight-minute stretch.

Inside the Box Score:

• Tyler Witz recorded 14 of his 18 points in the first half and shot 8-of-16 from the field. He added six rebounds.
• Delano Smith finished with 16 points and four rebounds.
• James Toohey recorded nine points and four rebounds.
• The Cardinals shot 24-of-68 from the field, 2-of-18 from deep, and 17-of-21 from the line.
• SVSU outrebounded WSU 45-42 in the win.
• Wayne State was led by Freddy Johnson with 15 points.

From Head Coach Randy Baruth:

I thought Wayne State did a good job of making some adjustments on the fly with having some guys out and I am proud of my guys for stepping up and responding the way they did. I know the guys are focused on having a break and spending some time with family, but I am happy for the team that they found a way to figure it out today.

We started to forget about the missed shots there in the second half and really started to play harder. Credit to the guys for responding.

This is the first time we have played a GLIAC game right before break in my 10 years here. It makes it more difficult to stay focused with everything going on at this time of year, but we found a way to get it done.

Up Next:

SVSU steps out of league play to open the 2022 calendar year, hosting Indiana University-Northwest at 3 pm on Sunday, January 2, 2022.