#8 Northern State 68 Wayne State 61

            #8 Northern State built a 16-point lead early in the second half, then held off a late Wayne State rally to top the Wildcats 68-61 in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played in Aberdeen, South Dakota Friday evening.  The host Wolves move to 19-2 overall and 10-2 in league play while Wayne State drops to 12-9 overall and 7-5 in the NSIC.

            Wayne State got off to a slow start, trailing 15-3 in the first seven minutes of the game, which led to a 38-25 advantage for Northern State at halftime.  The Wildcats trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half and got as close as three points with just under two minutes remaining before Northern State held on for the 68-61 win.

            With WSC trailing 54-40 with 12:29 remaining, the Wildcats went on a 13-2 run over the next 7:25 and pulled with three at 56-53 following a Jamar Diggs layup with 5:04 to go.  The Wildcats pulled within three points one more time, 60-57, with 1:47 remaining after Diggs sank one of two free throws.  However, Northern State's Luke Wicks scored four points in a span of five seconds to put Northern State up 64-57 with 1:27 remaining and WSC never got closer than five points the rest of the way as the Wolves hit six of eight free throws down the stretch to preserve the 68-61 win.

            Jonathon Thomas led Wayne State in scoring with 20 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Jamar Diggs added 17 points, six rebounds and five assists while Bryce Caldwell finished with 15 points for WSC.  The Wildcats shot a season-low 34.9 percent from the field making 22 of 63 shots.  WSC also shot a season-low from the three point line, making just 5 of 26 shots from behind the arc for 19.2 percent.  The Wildcats were 12 of 21 from the charity stripe.

            Levi Hamilton, a graduate of Lincoln Southeast, led Northern State in scoring with 19 points.  Kevin Ratzsch added 14 points and Craig Nelson scored 12 for the Wolves.  Northern State shot 48 percent from the field, making 23 of 48 shots.  The Wolves made 5 of 11 three point shots and hit 17 of 27 attempts from the free throw line.

            Wayne State won the rebounding battle over Northern State 43-35 thanks to Thomas' 12 rebounds.  Matt Rathje added 10 boards for the Wildcats, who had just nine turnovers in the game to 11 for Northern State.

            Wayne State will play at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota on Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m.