UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team fell in a thrilling double overtime contest to the visiting Wayne State Warriors by a score of 89-87 on Thursday (12/9) night. The loss drops the Cardinals to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play while the Warriors improve to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
Wayne State got on the board first via a Mike Hollingsworth layup at the 18:41 mark in the first half. Back-to-back three pointers by SVSU's freshman Patrick O'Brien (Flint, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) and senior Dan Genther (Laingsburg, Mich.) would give the Cardinals a 6-2 advantage with 15:50 remaining in the opening period. The Cardinals' biggest advantage in the first half was seven, when they led 15-8 at the 12:10 mark following another Genther triple and a pair of free throws by sophomore Michael Fugate (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS). Wayne State would re-gain the lead before Genther's third three pointer knotted the game at 23-apiece. The score would remain close the rest of the half, with the Warriors closing-out with a 32-30 lead heading into the locker room.
Genther led all scorers in the first half with 15 points, including going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and had a game-high five rebounds in the opening frame. O'Brien hit 2-of-3 three pointers to finish the half with six points.
The second half went much of the Warriors' way to start, as they would build a lead as high as 12 points at the 10:15 mark when the score was 54-42. Fugate would score 10 points in a row for SVSU, cutting the Wayne State lead to 57-52 with 5:09 remaining in the half. A three pointer by freshman Mike Schaaf (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) and layup by sophomore Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) would knot the game at 57-apiece at the 3:10 mark. The Warriors led 62-60 with 49 seconds left, but two key free throws by Webb at the 27 second mark tied the game at 62-62, which is where the score would remain at the end of regulation.
Fugate hit on 7-of-11 shots in the second period for 18 points, giving him 22 through regulation.
Wayne State's Bryan Smothers would begin the first overtime with a triple to make the score 65-62. Fugate would score the game's next four points to give the Cards a one point advantage at 66-65. SVSU would retain the lead until the 1:44 mark, when the game was tied for the ninth time at 73-73. Webb would hit two more critical freet throws with 10 seconds left to take a 75-73 lead. A jumper by Smothers with 0.8 seconds remaining would send the game into a second overtime at 75-75.
The second overtime would start the same as the first, with a triple by Wayne State's Smothers, which gave the Warriors a 78-75 advantage. SVSU would take the lead by one on a layup by O'Brien and would extend it to three points on a layup by Webb at the 2:32 mark to make the score 81-78. It would go back and forth until a pair of free throws by Fugate with 28 seconds left tied the game at 87-apiece. With possession, however, the Warriors were able to play for the final shot with no shot clock. Smothers would once again take the final shot for Wayne State, and once again connect on a jumper with 2.8 seconds left. A last second desperation shot by the Cardinals failed, and Wayne State came away with the 89-87 victory.
Fugate earned Meijer "Player of the Game" honors after finishing the contest with a game and career-high 30 points as well as six rebounds and three assists. Webb finished with 19 points, 17 of which came after the first half. Both Fugate and Webb played 48 minutes for SVSU. Genther finished with a career-high 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds while O'Brien had 10 points and pulled down a team-high eight boards in 42 minutes of action.
The Cardinals will be in action again on Saturday (12/11), as they welcom the #2-ranked University of Findlay Oilers to O'Neill Arena for a GLIAC match-up. Tip-off for that contest is set for 1:00 pm.
