Wayne State 85 Northern State 75             

            The Wayne State men kept their NSIC tournament hopes alive in a back-and-forth game that featured seven lead changes and five ties with an 85-75 comeback win over Northern State Saturday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The Wildcats used a 54-30 second half scoring advantage and a game-high 30 points from Vontrell Seroyer and 25 points from Amry Shelby to overcome a 14 point halftime deficit in defeating the Wolves. Wayne State improves to 7-16 on the season and 6-13 in the NSIC while Northern State falls to 12-11 overall and 8-11 in the conference.
            The Wolves led by as much as 16 in the first half and took a 14 point lead into the locker room at intermission after they shot a net scorching 17-22 (77.3%) from the field while Wayne State was 10-25 (40.0%) in the first half. NSU held an advantage in points in the paint 22-11 in the first half and the Wolves' bench outscored the Wildcats' bench 21-2.
            The tides turned coming out of halftime however as the 'Cats started the second half on a 9-0 run to cut their deficit to five at 47-42. After Dustin Tetzlaff hit a free throw to put NSU up 48-42, Wayne State used three pointers by Seroyer and Shelby to tie things up at 48 all with 14:27 left in regulation. Northern State would not give up their lead however and the lead would fluctuate from 0-5 until the Wildcats took their first lead of the game 65-64 after Vontrell Seroyer hit four straight free throws on one possession as he was fouled and a technical was called on an NSU player.
            A quick basket by Tetzlaff put the Wolves back up by one and Seroyer responded nine seconds later with a layup to put WSC up 67-66 and the Wildcats would not give up that lead the rest of the game. Wayne State finished the second half on a 18-9 run as the 'Cats defense tightened up and did not allow Northern State a field goal in the last 3:14 of the game.
            The Wildcats held a one point lead with 1:18 left in regulation and a layup by Clayfell Harris pushed the WSC advantage to 78-75. Amry Shelby then drilled a dagger of a three pointer to give Wayne State an 81-75 lead. Derrell Williams and Shelby then preserved the victory by nailing four free throws in the final 10 seconds to give the Wildcats the 85-75 win.
            Wayne State shot 25-52 (48.1%) from the field, 9-20 (45.0%) from three point range and 26-32 (81.3%) from the charity stripe while Northern State shot 63.4 percent (26-41) from the field, 30.0 percent (3-10) from long range and 76.9 percent (20-26) from the free throw line. NSU held the advantage in rebounds (29-21), assists (16-10), blocks (3-1), points in the paint (38-29) and bench points (31-10) but WSC was able to overcome all of that in large part due to their defense who forced 22 turnovers and 13 steals to outscore the Wolves in points off turnovers 33-16. The Wildcats were also able to work their transition offense and stop transition plays by NSU as WSC had the advantage in fast break points 11-2.
            Seroyer, Shelby and Derrell Williams combined for 67 of the team's 85 points as Seroyer netted 30, Shelby poured in 25 and Williams chipped in 12. Seroyer also went 4-5 from three point range, Shelby was 3-7 from behind the arc and Adol Aluong hit 2-5 from long range. Shelby also wreaked havoc on the Northern State offense as he notched five of Wayne State's 13 steals.
            Collin Pryor led the Wolves in scoring with 22 points and Dustin Tetzlaff also broke the 20 point barrier with 21 points for NSU, Pryor also snared 11 rebounds to record a double-double for Northern State.   
            The Wildcats will be at home again next Saturday hosting travel partner Augustana College in a 6:00 p.m. contest.