UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team picked up a major victory against No. 19 Wayne State University today (Feb. 9) by a final score of 79-74 in a GLIAC contest.

Saginaw Valley (9-11, 7-10 GLIAC) fell behind early 12-5 as the Wayne State (14-5, 13-3 GLIAC) defense forced six Cardinal turnovers in the first six minutes of play.

SVSU would hang tough as back-to-back three pointers by Damon Bozeman (Detroit, Mich. / Madison Heights HS) drew the Cardinals within three points (16-13) with 11:20 to play in the half.

However, Saginaw Valley was outscored 14-4 over the next five minutes and fell behind 30-17 as the Cardinal offense struggled to score against the tough Warrior defense.

SVSU battled back with a late three-pointer from Mike Schaaf (Saginaw, Mich. / Arthur Hill HS) and went into halftime trailing 36-28.

After trading possessions to start the second half, Saginaw Valley caught fire and went on a 13-0 run to lead 46-43 with 13 minutes to play. 

The final ten minutes of play featured back-and-forth action as the game featured six ties and three lead changes, with neither team leading by more than five points. 

With the Cardinals trailing 70-69 with 1:20 left to play, a layup by Bozeman put Saginaw Valley up 71-69.

On the ensuing possession, SVSU's defense stood tall and forced a turnover. Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich. / Arthur Hill HS) then took a back-door pass and slammed it home as the crowd erupted to cheer a 73-70 Cardinal lead with 31 seconds to play.

On defense, Saginaw Valley committed a foul and the Cardinal lead was cut to 73-72 with 22 seconds remaining. After a quick foul by WSU, Sterling Johnson (Detroit, Mich. / De La Salle HS) made a pair of free throws to put the Cardinals back up 75-72 with 21 seconds in the game. 

Johson would then get a steal and make another pair of free throws to put SVSU up 77-72 with nine second left. After giving up a layup, the Cardinals iced the game on a Webb breakaway layup and defeated the 19th-ranked Warriors 79-74.

SVSU forced 11 second half turnovers and outscored the Warriors 51-38 in the final twenty minutes to come away with the win.

The Cardinals were sparked with strong bench play from freshman Meijer 'Player of the Game' Damon Bozeman, who equaled his career-high with 35 points on 11-of-14 shooting including 7-of-8 from beyond the arc. Also coming off the bench was Johnson, who recorded a game-high seven steals along with 11 points. For the game, SVSU outscored the Warriors 52-4 in bench points.

SVSU fired 55 percent from the field going 26-for-47 in the contest and also 11-for-19 from beyond the three-point arc.

Saginaw Valley will return to the hardwood Thursday (Feb. 14) at 6:00 PM when they play host to Northern Michigan University.