UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team overcame an 18-point deficit to defeat Wayne State 75-66 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) home opener on Saturday evening. The Cardinals (4-4, 1-0 GLIAC) outscored the Warriors (2-4, 0-1 GLIAC) 47-20 in the second half to complete the comeback and take the win.

Jiovanni Miles had his 2nd 20+ point showing of the season with 22 on the day. Three other Cardinals scored double-digit points in the victory. Maurice Barnett tallied 18, while Freddie McIntosh had 14. Tre Garrett scored 12 and also totaled nine rebounds and five assists. Kevonne Taylor helped down low as he pulled in six rebounds while scoring five points.

The Cardinals used an early 5-0 run to pull ahead 11-8 at the 13:57 mark. The Warriors responded with a 5-0 run of their own a few minutes later to take a 19-17 lead. An 11-1 run by WSU gave the game its first double-digit lead of 30-20. A 12-0 run by Wayne State ended the half with a 46-28 score as the teams entered the locker rooms.

Miles sparked a 5-0 run in the opening two minutes of the second half to cut the margin to 49-36. The Cardinals caught fire at the 11:58 mark as McIntosh made a layup off a turnover that ignited a 15-0 run for SVSU that gave the team its first lead, 58-56, since 11:22 of the first half. The teams traded buckets before a missed free throw for WSU allowed the Cardinals to keep the edge and extend it to 64-59 after back-to-back layups. The Warriors cut the advantage to a single point, but SVSU made free throws down the stretch to hold onto the win as the clock expired.

UP NEXT

The SVSU men's basketball team will hit the road for a game at Findlay on Tuesday, December 6, at 7:00 PM before returning home for a showdown with Parkside on Friday night.