Wayne State 53 Minnesota, Crookston 44

            Junior guard Amry Shelby scored a game-high 24 points, his third straight game of 20 or more points, to lift Wayne State College in a 53-44 Northern Sun Conference men's basketball win at Minnesota, Crookston Friday evening.  With the win, the Wildcats stay alive for a berth in the Sanford Health/NSIC Men's Basketball Tournament improving to 9-16 overall and 8-13 in league play while Minnesota, Crookston falls to 7-18 and 3-18 in the NSIC.

            The first half was a low-scoring, defensive battle as the host Golden Eagles took early leads of 5-0 and 8-2.  WSC then held UMC scoreless for a stretch of 8:22 as the 'Cats took a 12-8 lead on a Amry Shelby jumper with 6:40 to play in the half.  The two teams exchanged several leads over the next five minutes as UMC took a 16-14 lead on Akeem Cubie's three pointer with 3:50 left in the half.  WSC then closed the half with an Adol Aluong three pointer and a Shelby jumper to put the 'Cats ahead 19-15 at halftime.

            Minnesota, Crookston opened the second half strong, scoring the first eight points to grab a 23-19 lead.  WSC came back and tied the score at 23-23 and 26-26 before taking the lead for good on back to back three pointers from Shelby and Adol Aluong for a 32-26 lead.  The Golden Eagles pulled within two at 33-31 with 8:57 to play, but Shelby drained another three pointer to put the 'Cats up five and WSC slowly pulled away, making 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:11 to fend off the Golden Eagles for the 53-44 win.

            Amry Shelby led all scorers with a game-high 24 points for the Wildcats.  It was his third straight game and eighth this season with 20 or more points.  He was 7 of 15 from the field and 7 for 8 at the charity stripe.  WSC made 15 of 42 shots from the field for 35.7 percent including 5 of 19 behind the three point line.  The 'Cats were 18 of 23 at the charity stripe in the win.

            Akeem Cubie paced Minnesota, Crookston in scoring with 18 points followed by Jacolby Anderson with 13 points.  The Golden Eagles shot 39 percent from the field on 18 of 46, but was just 4 for 13 from the three point line and an identical 4 of 13 at the free throw line.

            Minnesota, Crookston outrebounded Wayne State 36-28 with Cubie and Broderick Schmidt grabbing seven boards each for the Golden Eagles while Derrell Williams hauled in six rebounds to lead WSC.  UMC had 20 turnovers in the game to 13 by the Wildcats.    

            The Wildcats conclude the regular season Saturday evening with a 6 p.m. contest at MSU Moorhead.