Southwest Minnesota State 73 Wayne State 43

            Wayne State College shot a season-low 28 percent (14 of 50) from the field Saturday evening as Southwest Minnesota State defeated the Wildcats 73-43 in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played in Marshall, Minnesota.  The Wildcats drop to 4-2 overall and 0-2 in league play while Southwest Minnesota State is now 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the NSIC following the win.

            Southwest Minnesota State used strong shooting, making 54.5 percent (30 of 55) from the field in dominating the game as Wayne State never led. A Brad Starken three pointer tied the score at 3-3, the lone tie of the game, with 18:21 to play in the first half for the Wildcats.  Southwest Minnesota State built a 10 point lead at 17-7 with 11:57 to go in the half following a Trent Carlson three pointer.  WSC could only get as close as eight the rest of the night as the Wildcats ran into a hot shooting Mustang club.  A pair of Elijah Miller free throws pulled WSC within eight at 25-17 with 4:45 remaining in the half, but SMSU went on a 12-2 run to finish the half to take commanding 37-19 lead at halftime.

            The host Mustangs continued their solid shooting in the second half and never let WSC get closer than 14 points.  An Amry Shelby layup for WSC made the score 40-26 with 16:30 to go in the game, but that's as close as the Wildcats would get as the Mustangs went on to the 73-43 win over Wayne State.

            Amry Shelby was Wayne State's leading scorer with eight points.  WSC was held to a season-low 28 percent shooting on 14 of 50 from the field.  The 'Cats were 2 of 15 from the three point line and 13 of 15 at the free throw line. 

            For Southwest Minnesota State, Jordan Miller was the only player in double digits with 13 points.  The Mustangs made 30 of 55 shots for 54.5 percent while hitting 6 of 17 three pointers.  SMSU was 7 of 8 at the charity stripe.

            WSC outrebounded SMSU 33-28 as Ryan Rolfzen and Ben Tasa each grabbed five boards for the Wildcats while Soctt Roehl grabbed six rebounds for the Mustangs.  WSC had 18 turnovers in the game to just nine for SMSU.

            Wayne State will be at home next weekend, hosting Northern State Friday night at 8:00 p.m. and the University of Mary Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in a pair of Northern Sun Conference contests.