Wayne State 78 Bemidji State 66
Wayne State held off a late Bemidji State rally by outscoring the Beavers 12-2 in the final 3:00 minutes to notch a 78-66 Northern Sun Conference men's basketball road win in frigid Bemidji, Minnesota Sunday afternoon. Freshman guard Amry Shelby matched his career-high with 21 points to lead three double digit scorer for Wayne State, now 5-7 overall and 2-3 in the NSIC while Bemidji State falls to 5-7 overall and 2-4 in league play.
Bemidji State held a pair of early leads (4-2 and 6-5), but WSC went on a 9-0 run over a span of 2:07 to take a 14-6 lead with 15:09 left in the first half following two free throws by Wildcat freshman guard Amry Shelby. Wayne State would build a pair of 12 point leads at 21-9 and 23-11 with 10:24 in the first half. But BSU slowly chipped into the lead and got as close as one point (32-31) before WSC took a 34-31 halftime lead.
Early in the second half, WSC went on a 16-4 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 52-39 with 12:49 remaining after a Brad Starken three pointer. Later in the half, BSU scored seven straight points to pull even with WSC at 62-62 following a Lance Rongstad layup with 4:31 to play. The game was tied one more time at 64-64, but WSC then outscored Bemidji State 12-2 in the final three minutes, highlighted by strong free throw shooting by Amry Shelby and Brett Spiker and a pair of key three pointers from Brad Starken, to pull away for the 78-66 NSIC road win at Bemidji State.
“I thought our team showed a ton of character in this game today,” said WSC head coach on his post-game radio show. “Our guys rallied and competed and we withstood their run and I'm very proud of our kids' effort. We faced some adversity and we stepped up and hit some shots when we needed to.”
Shelby, a 5-11 freshman guard from Marion, Iowa, scored 14 of his game-high 21 points to match his career-high (vs. Mary on 12-5-09). He was 6 of 11 from the field and 8 of 10 at the free throw stripe, hitting 5 of 6 in the final minute to seal the win. Brad Starken and Brian Metz also reached double figures with 18 points apiece. Starken was 7 of 11 from the field and 4 of 7 from the three point line while Metz, who leads the NSIC in field goal percentage, was a force inside making 9 of 12 shots from the field.
WSC shot 58.3 percent (28 of 48) from the field. It was the fourth time in the last five games that the Wildcats have shot over 55 percent from the field. The 'Cats were 7 of 15 from the three point stripe and hit 15 of 20 free throws (75 percent). WSC held a 35-23 edge in rebounding over Bemidji State thanks to seven rebounds each by Metz, Jason Jensen and Brett Spiker.
For Bemidji State, Seth Haake scored 16 points followed by Lance Rongstad with 15 and Patrick Cassidy and Mason Walters with 11 apiece. The Beavers shot 43.4 percent in the game, making 23 of 53 shots. BSU was 5 of 16 from the three point line and 15 of 19 (78%) at the free throw line.
Wayne State will at home next weekend for a pair of Northern Sun Conference games, hosting Minnesota, Crookston Friday night at 8:00 p.m. followed by a Saturday home contest vs. MSU Moorhead starting at 6:00 p.m.
