DETROIT- The Michigan Tech men's basketball team couldn't shake off a slow start in losing at Wayne State 84-61 in GLIAC action at the Mattaei Center today. The host Warriors (16-4 overall and 12-2 in the GLIAC) shot 61 percent including 57 percent from 3-point range to beat the Huskies (11-10 overall and 6-8 in the league).

Tech stayed within 12-11 through the first seven minutes of the game before WSU exploded on a 15-1 run. Three 3-pointers from bench player Bryan Coleman expanded the margin and a pair of dunks by Mike Hollingsworth spurred the run.

The gap at halftime was 45-27.

The Black and Gold switched from zone to man-to-man defense to start the second half, and the change seemed to work. The Huskies pulled within 53-43 at the 11:48 mark as Don Fowler capped a 7-0 run.

WSU called timeout, then scored the next nine points to regain control. The margin was never less than 16 the rest of the way.

"Wayne's as good of a team as we've seen in a while," said head coach Kevin Luke. "They play tough defense and rebound extremely well.

"I'm much happier with our effort today than on Thursday (at Findlay)."

Tech was balanced in scoring today. Alex Culy tallied a team-high 14 points while Ali Haidar (12) and Mike HojnackI (11) also reached double figures.

Bryan Smothers paced the Warriors with 21 points.

The Huskies committed a season-low five turnovers, but Wayne held 39-21 advantage in rebounds.

Tech shot 42 percent from the floor.

Michigan Tech will be off until next Saturday (Feb. 12), when it plays at Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.