Neb.-Kearney 85 Wayne State 77
Wayne State College nearly rallied from a 30-point halftime deficit in the second half, getting as close as three points, before Nebraska-Kearney hung on for an 85-77 non-conference men's college basketball win over the Wildcats Tuesday evening at the UNK Health and Sports Center in Kearney. The host Lopers move to 2-1 on the season while WSC drops to 1-3 overall.
The host Lopers came out on fire in the first half and dominated play, taking a commanding 46-16 at halftime after making 19 of 27 shots from the field for 70 percent including 8 of 12 (66%) from the three point line.
Wayne State responded though in the second half, cutting the Loper lead in half with 14:30 to play on a layup by freshman center Nick Wuebker to make the score 54-39. A three pointer from Vontrell Seroyer trimmed the UNK lead to nine at 59-50 with 10:40 to play.
With WSC trailing 63-52 with 8:22 remaining, the 'Cats went on an 8-0 run and got as close as three points at 63-60 on a Seroyer layup with 5:58 to go in the contest. The host Lopers then responded scoring 9 of the next 11 points, regaining a double digit lead at 72-62 with 3:32 to play following a pair of free throws by Ethan Brozek. WSC got as close as six at 76-70 on a Seroyer layup with 1:16 to play before UNK made 9 of 10 free throws down the stretch to stave off the miracle comeback by the Wildcats for the 85-77 win.
Vontrell Seroyer paced Wayne State with his career-high 32 points, making 13 of 17 shots from the floor. Senior backup center Clayfell Harris contributed 12 points with Derrell Williams and Nick Wuebker also reaching double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively. The Wildcats made 30 of 61 shots from the field for 49 percent, connecting on 3 of 12 from the three point line and 14 of 22 at the charity stripe.
For Nebraska-Kearney, Jon Henderson poured in a team-high 21 points followed by Quinston Reggins with 18, Mike Dentlinger 14 and Ethan Brozek 13. The Lopers shot a sizzling 28 of 46 from the floor for 60.9 percent, connecting on 8 of 14 three pointers (57%) and 21 of 27 at the free throw line for 77 percent.
UNK held a slim 30-28 advantage in rebounding over WSC thanks to seven rebounds from Drew Sankey while Wayne State's top rebounder was Clayfell Harris with eight. The Lopers had 18 turnovers in the contest to 14 on WSC. The Wildcats had 52 points in the paint compared to 34 by UNK.
Wayne State is off until Friday, December 2nd when the Wildcats open Northern Sun Conference play hosting defending NSIC regular season champion Minnesota State in an 8:00 p.m. contest at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.
