UNIVERSITY CENTER - Using a great defensive performance where it forced 21 turnovers, the Saginaw Valley State University came out on top once more and ran its win streak to 10 games after a 63-57 home victory over the Wayne State Warriors.
The Cardinals scored 28 points off the Warrior miscues while allowing just eight points for the visitors off their own 11 turnovers.
Both teams traded buckets to make the score 2-2 at the 17:47 mark, which was the only time that the contest would be tied.
Back-to-back triples from junior Mitchell Baenziger gave the Cards an 11-4 advantage with 14:52 left to play in the opening half. It was one of three separate times SVSU held a seven point advantage in the first 20 minutes of play.
The third came with just 3:42 to play in the first frame as juniors Damon Bozeman and Sterling Johnson found the bottom of the net to make the score 26-19.
The Warriors would trim the deficit before the halftime though, going 4-of-4 from the foul line to cut the lead to 28-26 as the teams headed into their respective locker rooms.
Baenziger had a high of eight first half points while sophomore C.J. Turnage added six with three rebounds in the first frame.
SVSU opened the second half by scoring 13 of the first 15 points, grabbing its largest lead of the contest of 13 points (41-28) at the 14:17 marker after sophomore Garrett hall capped the run off with a layup.
The Warriors scored the next nine, pulling to within four points at 41-37.
The Cardinals worked the lead back out to double-digits after sophomore Wade Gelhaus began a mini 5-0 run with a dunk, followed by a layup and free throw from Turnage, who had the assist on the Gelhaus slam. That made the score 57-45 with just 1:16 left to play.
Wayne State hit a couple shots down the stretch to make things a bit interesting, but 6-of-8 shooting from the line inside of the last minute was enough for the Cards to close-out for the six point victory, 63-57.
SV held a slight edge in shooting percentage, shooting 43.4% (23-53) compared to WSU's 41.5% (22-53). The Cardinals outscored the Warriors in the paint by a 34-26 margin as well and the bench points were an even 14-14 in a game where Wayne State never led.
Tunage was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after scoring 17 points and grabbing seven boards, adding four assists, three steals and a block. It was his 12th double-digit scoring effort in 13 games.
Hall had 11 points with four steals while sophomore Caleb Davis registered 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Baenziger added 10 points with a pair of blocks. Junior Kellen Smith had another solid game running the point, notching eight points with five assists and three steals.
The win pushes SVSU's record out to 11-2 overall and 8-0 in the GLIAC. Wayne State falls to 2-9 and 2-6 in league play.
Next up for the men is a trip to Sault Ste. Marie to face the defending GLIAC Champions, the Lake Superior State University Lakers (12-2, 7-1 GLIAC).
