Wayne State 72 Southwest Minnesota State 60
Wayne State senior guard Bryce Caldwell scored a game-high 22 points and became the 29th player in Wildcat men's basketball history to surpass the 1,000 point mark as WSC posted a 72-60 Northern Sun Conference win over Southwest Minnesota State Saturday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. With the win, the Wildcats move to 9-7 overall and 4-3 in league play, tied with MSU Moorhead for third place, while SMSU slips to 8-7 and 3-4 in the NSIC.
SMSU held the lead for a good share of the first half, but a Wildcat run to end the half put WSC ahead 38-35 at the intermission. The Mustangs used a 16-2 run over a span of 5:02 to take a 23-14 lead with 8:59 left in the half. However, WSC put together a 14-2 run and took the lead on a Bryce Caldwell three pointer with 4:45 remaining in the half at 28-25.
The Wildcats would relinquish the lead just once in the second half as SMSU grabbed a 42-41 lead on a Andrew Peschong jumper with 15:30 to go in the game. WSC would slowly pull away and go on to post the 72-60 win over the Mustangs.
Caldwell connected on 7 of 12 three point shots and ended the game 7 of 16 from the field for his game-high 22 points. Jonathon Thomas was the only other player in double figures for WSC, recording his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
WSC finished the game shooting 47 percent from the field on 25 of 53. The 'Cats hit 10 of 19 three pointers (52.6%), but made just 12 of 23 free throws for 52 percent.
Matt Fletcher paced SMSU with 18 points followed by Ryan Krome with 14. The Mustangs shot just 34 percent from the field, making 18 of 53 shots. SMSU was 8 of 23 from the three point line and 16 of 18 at the charity stripe.
WSC held a commanding 43-27 edge in rebounding over SMSU thanks to 14 caroms from Thomas. Ross DeMasi hauled in eight boards to lead the Mustangs.
Wayne State will be at home again next weekend, hosting Concordia-St. Paul Friday evening and MSU Moorhead Saturday night at Rice Auditorium.
