DETROIT – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team battled back from a double-digit deficit to lose 88-84 in a tight loss at Wayne State on Thursday night. The Cardinals (6-11, 2-7 GLIAC) cut the deficit to two points in the final minute but fell just short of knotting things up in the losing effort.

Freddie McIntosh matched his season high with 25 points to lead SVSU in scoring on the night. Toodles Seal scored 15 points while Nate Washburn had a career game with 13 points. Nico Newsome had a team-high eight rebounds for Saginaw Valley State.

Newsome got things going for SVSU with a layup in the opening minute to score the game's first bucket before the Warriors went on a 9-0 run to capture the lead with just two minutes and 22 seconds off the clock in the first.

Later in the half, Triston Nichols added four points to help remove a six-point deficit and tie the game at 15 with just over 12 minutes left before the break.

Nate Washburn made back-to-back layups to take the lead and spark a 6-0 run and put the Cardinals on top 23-20.

Wayne State battled back and scored eight of the last 13 points of the half to hold a 37-35 advantage as the teams entered the locker room.

Saginaw Valley shot 15-of-24 from the floor and made only three shots from three in the first half. The Cardinals outrebounded the Warriors 18-10, and Seal led SVSU in scoring with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.

 The Warriors stormed out of the break to start things with a 12-0 run with Tamario Adley contributing 10 of the points during the sequence of plays to put the score at 49-35 through the first media timeout of the second half.

The Cardinals continued to battle, but Wayne State continued to build the lead with a 16-point advantage (67-51) with 10:20 left in regulation.

McIntosh hit two free throws with 7:11 left as SVSU outscored the Warriors 19-9 into the game's final minute to trail 82-77 with 36 ticks on the clock.

McIntosh hit a three with 26 seconds remaining to put the Cardinals just four points behind. He then went for a jumper and was fouled. He made both free-throw attempts to put the score at 85-82 with 10 seconds left to play.  The senior guard hit a layup with four ticks remaining, but Wayne State made the two free throws needed to hold on for the win.

UP NEXT: The Cardinals return home and host GLIAC newcomer Roosevelt for a 3:00 p.m. (ET) tip-off.