Feb. 14, 2006

Wayne State (10-12, 5-9 GLIAC) at
Ferris State (15-9, 12-3 GLIAC)
Saginaw Valley (8-15, 3-11 GLIAC)
Feb. 16 - 8 pm Feb. 18 - 3 pm

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 GAME STORYLINES

With three games remaining, the Wayne State men's basketball team is still in the hunt for a spot in the GLIAC Tournament. This week, the Warriors travel to Ferris State (Thursday) and Saginaw Valley State (Saturday) for their final road games of the regular season.

It's a three-team race for the final two spots in the tournament between WSU, Hillsdale and Ashland as six teams have clinched berths in the tournament, four of them in the North Division.

WSU hosts Hillsdale in its final home game of the year on Feb. 25. It will be Senior Day, as well as Hall of Fame Saturday.

 SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
FSU is coming off a 92-82 loss at Northern Michigan last Saturday. Senior point guard Dennis Springs leads the GLIAC in assists (5.96), as well as ranking fourth in scoring (16.8) and in steals (2.25). The Bulldogs are 7-1 at home, but David Greer has defeated FSU the last two times he's visited Jim Wink Arena (74-71 OT on 1/4/03; 75-71 on 1/17/04).

The Cardinals enter the week on a two-game winning streak after they dropped the previous six in a row. Chris Johnston and Sydney McDaniel are both averaging 11.3 points per game. Johnston also leads the `Cards at 4.0 rebounds a contest and is second in the league with an 84.2 free throw percentage.

 ON THE BENCH
David Greer is in his fifth year at Wayne State and has a 78-62 record. Ferris State's Bill Sall is 69-53 in his fourth year, while Jamie Matthews has an 18-32 mark in his second season at SVSU.

 IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was tied with Gannon for second place in the South Division of the GLIAC coaches' preseason poll. Ferris State earned one first-place vote and 28 points in third place of the North poll, while SVSU had 14 points in sixth place.

 THE SERIES
The Warriors can tie both all-times series with a win. Ferris State leads 33-32, and SVSU holds a 28-27 advantage vs. WSU.

 LAST GAME NOTES
Five players scored in double figures as Wayne State defeated visiting Gannon, 74-57, Saturday afternoon as WSU honored the 50th anniversary of its 1955-56 team that advanced to the NCAA Division I Sweet Sixteen. The Warriors made 19-of-24 (79.2 percent) of their shots in the second half.

Gannon led 8-2 in the first five minutes as WSU made just one of its first six shots. Wayne State got back within one as senior Ethan Banks hit a three from the right corner.

The Warriors made four their next five shots and took their first lead (11-10) when junior center Jeffrey Ferguson hit a long-range jumper with 11:30 left in the first half.

GU answered with a six-point rally that was ended by Banks' second three of the half. Then Wayne State junior guard Kris Krzyminski tied the game at 20 on a pair of three-pointers on consecutive WSU possessions.

Wayne State went up by four following a Ferguson basket and two free throws by Krzyminski, but the Golden Knights got within one at the break.

WSU grabbed a five-point lead early in the second half thanks to baskets by Herb Goliday and Erik Parker.

Gannon tied the game at 37 as it made a three-pointer on three straight trips down the court. The Golden Knights regained a two-point lead with 14:26 to play, but Parker got the game-tying put-back to fall on the Warriors' end.

Down by two, Krzyminski drained his third trey of the game that started a nine-point run. Krzyminski followed that with a fast-break layup, and then Jacob Black found Ferguson for a two-handed dunk with 11:00 left. The run was capped off on Parker's turnaround jumper that beat the shot clock for a 50-43 lead.

For the second time in three minutes, a WSU shot got off right before the 35-second clock as Krzyminski made a reverse layup in traffic for a 54-48 advantage.

After exchanging baskets, Wayne State went on a 9-1 run, with Banks scoring five of those points, to lead 65-51 with just over four minutes to play.

The Warriors maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game by going 7-of-8 at the line and forcing four Knight turnovers.

Krzyminski (19), Ferguson (14), Parker (12), Banks (11) and Goliday (10) all reached double digits for WSU who made 58.0 percent of it shots. Ferguson also had a game-high eight rebounds.