Southwest Minnesota State 80 Wayne State 61

            Wayne State College suffered an 80-61 setback at Southwest Minnesota State Saturday evening in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played at the R/A Facility in Marshall, Minnesota.  The host Mustangs are now 4-4 overall and 2-1 in the NSIC following the win while Wayne State remains winless in league play at 0-3 and sits 3-4 on the season.
            After trailing 6-0 early, Wayne State went on a 10-1 run and took a 10-7 lead on a Ryan Rolfzen tip-in at the 15:06 mark of the first half.  Each team then exchanged scoring runs as the Mustangs scored the next eight points for a 15-10 lead followed by five straight Wildcat points to even the score at 15-15 on a Ben Galemmo trey with 10:40 left in the half.
            Wayne State's final lead came at 23-22 with 6:58 to go in the half on a Rolfzen 3-pointer.  SMSU then scored the next seven points to grab a 29-23 lead and the Mustangs finished the half with nine straight points before a Jamie Pearson 3-pointer right before the halftime buzzer made the score 40-31 in favor of Southwest Minnesota State at halftime.
            SMSU never gave the Wildcats a chance to get back into the game in the second half.  With WSC trailing 45-35 with 18:24 remaining, the Mustangs put the game out of reach with a 14-2 run over the next 3:44 to take a commanding 59-37 lead and SMSU cruised the rest of the way for an 80-61 win.
            Senior guard Ty Bauschek led Wayne State in scoring with 12 points followed by senior forward Ryan Rolfzen's 10 points. 
            The Wildcats shot 45 percent from the field, making 18 of 40 shots.  WSC was 7 of 19 from 3-point range and 18 for 23 at the free throw line.
            Southwest Minnesota State's top scorer was Nick Smith with a game-high 22 points.  Matt Zager also reached double digits with 11.
            The Mustangs made 21 of 43 shots from the field for 48 percent, including 5 for 11 from the 3-point line.  SMSU was 33 for 39 at the free throw stripe.
            Southwest Minnesota State had a 30-18 rebounding advantage on the Wildcats thanks to six rebounds each from Nick Smith and Mitch Weg while Wayne State's top rebounder was David Andersen with four caroms.
            WSC had 13 turnovers in the game while SMSU had just seven.  Bauschek led WSC in assists with four while Gary Ross and Bauschek each recorded two steals.
            Wayne State will be at home next weekend, hosting #9 Minnesota State Friday evening at 8 p.m. and Concordia-St. Paul Saturday evening in a 6 p.m. contest.