Wayne State 64 Minnesota, Crookston 49
Wayne State College used 55 percent shooting and three players in double figures to record a 64-49 Northern Sun Conference men's basketball win over Minnesota, Crookston Sunday afternoon at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The host Wildcats move to 3-7 overall and 2-4 in the NSIC while the Golden Eagles drop to 4-5 on the season and 0-5 in league play.
The game was close early as the two teams traded five lead changes with one tie in the first 5:50 of the contest. With Minnesota, Crookston holding a 10-9 lead, WSC went on an 11-2 run in a span of 4:20 to take a 20-12 lead on a Adol Aluong layup with 10:18 to go in the half. UMC closed within five points twice, 26-21 and 28-23, but WSC went on a 10-2 run over the next 3:12 to take their biggest lead of the first half at 38-25 before settling with a 38-27 advantage at halftime.
WSC used 56 percent shooting in the first half (14 of 25) to build their first half lead as the Wildcat bench produced 15 points.
The Wildcats continued their strong shooting in the second half and maintained a double digit lead throughout. Wayne State's biggest lead was 18 points at 58-40 with 7:31 to play following a layup from Derrell Williams. WSC ended the second half making 10 of 18 shots for 55.6 percent and scored another 16 points in the paint to finish the game with 34 points in the paint.
Three players scored in double figures for the Wildcats as junior guard Amry Shelby scored a game-high 18 points. Junior forward Derrell Williams and freshman center Nick Wuebker each added 15 points with Wuebker's outing a season-high in points thanks to a perfect 7 of 7 shooting from the field.
Wayne State finished the contest making 24 of 43 shots for 55.8 percent including 3 of 10 behind the three point line. The Wildcats were 13 of 21 at the charity stripe.
For Minnesota, Crookston, Jacolby Anderson finished with 11 points. The Golden Eagles were 22 of 45 shooting for 48.9 percent, but just 1 of 7 from the three point line and 4 of 10 at the free throw stripe.
WSC won the rebounding battle 31-20 thanks to seven rebounds from Derrell Williams with six each by Shelby and Wuebker. Both teams had 13 turnovers in the game.
Wayne State is off for the holiday break and will resume play on Monday, January 2nd when the Wildcats visit Concordia-St. Paul for an 8:00 p.m. Northern Sun Conference contest.
