Minnesota State 74 Wayne State 63

            The Wayne State men's basketball team was held to 24 points in the second half as the Wildcats fell to defending NSIC Champion Minnesota State in the NSIC opener in Mankato, Minnesota Friday evening. Wayne State held a 39-30 lead at halftime, but the Wildcats shot only 33.3 percent from the field in the second half. The win makes the Mavericks 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the NSIC and the loss drops Wayne State to 4-1 on the season and 0-1 in the conference.

            Wayne State was red hot in the first half as the Wildcats shot 66 percent (14-21) from the field and took a 39-30 advantage at the break. Amry Shelby was red hot in the first stanza scoring 19 points going 6 for 6 from the field including two three pointers, Shelby was also 5 for 5 from the free throw line. The two teams were evenly matched in the first 10 minutes of the half until the Wildcats went on an 11-0 run to take a 23-15 lead. The Wildcats would build on their eight point lead in the half holding an advantage of as large as 12 points.

            The Mavericks came out firing in the second half going on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 39-39 in the opening minutes of the second half. The Wildcats would take a 41-39 lead that was short lived as the Mavericks continued their roll in the second half as the Mavericks outscored WSC 16-2 in the first eight minutes of the second half to take a 46-41 lead. The Mavericks would build a double digit lead halfway through the stanza. Wayne State battled back to cut the Mavericks lead to as little as seven, but the Mavericks stayed strong late to take the 74-63 win in the NSIC opener.

            Wayne State shot 48.9 percent from the field (22 of 45), 38.5 percent (5 of 13) from the three point line and 77.8 percent (14 of 18) from the free throw line. Minnesota State shot 43.4 percent (22 of 53) from the field, 44.4 percent (8 of 18) from the three point line and 80.0 percent (20 of 25) from the free throw line. The Wildcats had 29 rebounds on the night compared to Minnesota State's 28. Wayne State committed 17 turnovers on the night with Minnesota State only turning the ball over 10 times.

            Wayne State was led by Shelby who tied a career high with 26 points on the night. Shelby shot 53.3 percent from the field going 8 of 15. Senior Brad Starken and junior Vontrell Seroyer each added eight points for WSC. Seroyer grabbed a career high five rebounds.

            Minnesota State was led by Marcus Hill who had 19 points on the night. Jefferson Mason added 16 points and Anthony Brant added 14 points to round out Mavericks in double figures. Connor O'Brien added a game high 10 rebounds along with eight points.

            Wayne State will be on the road again Saturday evening visiting Southwest Minnesota State for an 8:00 p.m. Northern Sun Conference contest.