Minnesota Duluth 74 Wayne State 71
Minnesota Duluth sank 22 of 25 free throws to hold back a late Wayne State rally as the Bulldogs edged the Wildcats 74-71 Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The Bulldogs improve to 8-4 overall and 5-3 in league play with Wayne State dropping to 4-9 on the season and 3-6 in the NSIC following the loss.
The first half was back and forth between the two clubs with three ties and eight lead changes, but a late run to close the half by the Wildcats gave WSC a 42-32 lead at the intermission. The third and final tie of the first half came at 17-17 with 11:19 to go, but WSC scored the next five points and never relinquished the lead as sophomore backup guard Ty Bauschek drained a three pointer with three seconds left before halftime to give WSC their biggest lead of the game at 42-32.
WSC maintained their lead for the first part of the second half, but the visiting Bulldogs put together a scoring run to regain the lead. A Nick Wuebker put back off a miss by Vontrell Seroyer gave WSC a 46-38 lead with 16:57 to play. But UMD went on a 13-2 run over the next 5:45 and took the lead at 51-48 on a pair of Peter Crawford free throws with 11:12 remaining.
The Bulldogs maintained their lead and increased their advantage to eight at 66-58 with 5:37 to play when WSC mounted a comeback. The Wildcats went on a 10-2 run and regained the lead at 70-68 with 38 seconds left on a Amry Shelby jumper. Minnesota Duluth's Ryan Rasmussen was fouled on a three pointer with 23.7 seconds left and made all three free throws to put the Bulldogs back in front 71-70.
On the next possession, Wayne State's Amry Shelby missed a shot but the ball was saved on an offensive rebound by Wuebker. But UMD's Ryan Rasmussen stole a Ty Bauschek pass and made a layup with 4.1 seconds to play giving Duluth a 73-70 lead. Wayne State's Amry Shelby was then fouled and made one of two free throws with 1.9 remaining to cut the Bulldog lead to two at 73-71. UMD's Ryan Rasmussen was fouled on the inbounds with 0.4 seconds to play and made one of two free throws to make the final score 74-71.
Amry Shelby led WSC with a game-high 24 points, his fifth game of 20 or more points this season. Derrell Williams finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Wayne State was 25 of 57 from the field for 43.9 percent and 3 of 14 behind the three point line. The 'Cats were 18 of 27 at the free throw stripe.
For Minnesota Duluth, Ryan Rasmussen scored 18 points with Jake Hottenstine adding 16. The Bulldogs shot 42 percent from the field, making 24 of 57 shots including 4 of 14 from the three point line. UMD was sizzling at the free throw line, making 22 of 25 for 88 percent.
WSC held a 38-34 edge in rebounding over Minnesota Duluth thanks to 12 rebounds by Williams with Wuebker adding seven. UMD's top rebounder was Riley Walker with seven.
The Wildcats will be at home again Sunday hosting Bemidji State in a Northern Sun Conference matchup beginning at 4:00 p.m.
