Wayne State 74 Minot State 70 OT

            Freshmen Joel Heesch and Kenny Finco scored career-highs of 13 and 11 points respectively to help the Wayne State College men's basketball team rally for a 74-70 Northern Sun Conference win at Minot State Friday evening at the Minot Dome in Minot, North Dakota.  The Wildcats improve to 5-6 overall and 2-5 in league play while Minot State drops to 6-5 and 2-5 in the NSIC North Division.
            The host Beavers jumped out to an early lead on the Wildcats, building double digit leads of 16-5 and 18-7 with 12:52 to go in the first half.  With Minot State still leading 24-15 at the 6:56 mark of the first half, seldom-used freshman Kenny Finco sparked a Wildcat rally with back-to-back 3's pulling Wayne State within three at 24-21.
            Minot State was able to push the lead back to nine at 32-23 with 2:50 to go before halftime, but Wayne State closed the half with a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the game right before halftime at 33-32.  A Ryan Rolfzen three, a three-point play by Patrick Kurth, a Joel Heesch layup and two Kenny Finco free throws with three seconds to play before halftime highlighted the Wildcat run.
            Wayne State's lead was short-lived as Minot State opened the second half with a 14-4 scoring surge to take a 46-37 lead with 15:48 to play in the game.
            The Wildcats came right back and got within two at 49-47 on a Joel Heesch jumper at the 11:58 mark.  But Minot State was able to push the lead back to 10 again at 60-50 with 7:43 to play before the Wildcats made another run at the Beavers.
            Trailing 63-56 with 4:57 remaining, the Wildcats used a jumper and 3-pointer by Jamie Pearson to pull within two at 63-61 with 3:51 to go. After Minot's Lazar Boskovic hit one of two free throws to put the Beavers ahead 64-61, Wayne State's Joel Heesch converted a lay-in with 2:40 remaining to pull WSC within one at 64-63.
            Minot State's E.J. Williams gave the Beavers a 65-63 lead at the 1:20 mark making one of two free throws.  WSC missed two shots that would have tied the game, but was able to knot the score at 65-65 on the third chance when Heesch drove to the basket and made a layup with 5.6 seconds to play, sending the game into overtime.
            The Beavers took an early 67-65 lead in overtime, but WSC got baskets from Ty Bauschek and Ryan Rolfzen to give the 'Cats a 69-67 lead with 2:31 to play.  Minot State missed several chances to tie the game and had to foul following a miss where Adol Aluong sank two free throws with 17 seconds in overtime giving WSC a 71-67 lead. 
            Minot's Nathan Mertens cut the lead to two at 71-69 with 8.1 seconds remaining, but missed the free throw with Heesch grabbing the rebound.  He made one of two free throws to give WSC a 72-69 lead with 6.8 seconds remaining. 
            Minot State drove the length of the floor and Dominique McDonald was fouled on a 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds to play.  He missed the first, made the second and missed the third free throw to make the score 72-70.  Adol Aluong was fouled and sealed the win with two free throws at 0.9 seconds remaining to give WSC the 74-70 win.
            Heesch and Finco both played season-high minutes and produced for the Wildcats in the win with career-highs of 13 and 11 points respectively.  Heesch was 6 for 10 shooting and also grabbed eight rebounds, another career-high.  Finco was 3 of 6 shooting, including 3 for 5 from the 3-point line, off the bench.
            Adol Aluong added 11 points and Jamie Pearson finished with 10 for the Wildcats.  WSC shot 27 for 55 from the field for 49.1 percent.  The 'Cats were 5 of 19 behind the 3-point line and 15 for 19 at the free throw stripe.
            Minot State's top scorer was Chris East with 15 points followed by Dominque McDonald and Thomas Korf with 14 and 10 points.  The Beavers were 22 for 56 from the field for 39.3 percent, going 4 of 18 from the 3-point line and 22 for 37 (59.5%) at the free throw line.
            Minot State edged Wayne State in rebounding 36-35.  Heesch led the Wildcats on the boards with eight followed by Ryan Rolfzen with six.  WSC had 21 turnovers in the game to 17 by Minot State.  Heesch led WSC in assists with four and also recorded a team-high two steals.
            The Wildcats will be in action again Saturday night visiting the University of Mary in a 6 p.m. contest.