Wayne State 81 Iowa Wesleyan 63

            Senior center Patrick Kurth recorded career-highs of 20 points and 13 rebounds to power Wayne State College in a 81-63 non-conference men's basketball win Thursday evening over Iowa Wesleyan at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Wildcats are now 1-2 on the year while the visiting Tigers drop to 1-1.
            After trailing early 9-6 early in the game, the Wildcats used 3-pointers from Trae VandeBerg and back-to-back treys by Jordan Holdsworth to take a 21-11 lead at the 11:20 mark of the first half. 
            The 'Cats took their biggest lead of the first half at 12 (29-17) with 7:57 remaining before Iowa Wesleyan made a run at the Wildcats.  The Tigers got within three at 31-28 with 2:39 remaining before halftime on 3-pointers from Michael Neff and Elijah Johnson. 
            But WSC closed the half strong and took a 42-31 lead at intermission.
            Wayne State opened the second half strong and took a 17 point lead at 51-34 following a pair of Joel Heesch free throws with 16:25 to play. 
            Iowa Wesleyan got as close as eight at 53-45 at the 11:54 mark.  With WSC leading 62-53, the Wildcats put the game out of reach with an 11-1 run over the next 3:05 to take a 73-54 lead with 5:27 to play before finishing with the 81-63 win.
            Kurth led Wayne State in scoring with his career-high 20 points on 9 of 13 shooting.  He also grabbed a team-leading 13 rebounds, another career-high.  Jamie Pearson added 15 points off the bench with Jordan Holdsworth scoring 12.
            Wayne State shot 52.5 percent from the field making 32 of 61 shots.  The 'Cats were 7 of 21 from 3-point territory and hit just 10 of 19 free throws for 52.6 percent.
            Iowa Wesleyan's top scorer was Elijah Johnson with 17 points and Michael Neff with 16 points.  CJ Singletary also reached double figures with 11.
            The Tigers made 25 of 67 shots for 37.3 percent.  IWC was 8 for 27 behind the 3-point line and 5 of 11 at the charity stripe.
            Wayne State held a commanding 51-28 advantage in rebounding over Iowa Wesleyan thank to 13 rebounds from Kurth and six each from Holdsworth, VandeBerg and Joel Heesch.  Iowa Wesleyan's top rebounder was Dion Lightner with seven.
            The Wildcats had 26 turnovers in the game compared to 17 on Iowa Wesleyan.  Senior guard Gary Ross handed out a team-high four assists while Kurth and Heesch each recorded two blocked shots.
            Wayne State will open Northern Sun Conference play Monday evening facing Augustana in a 8 p.m. contest at the Sioux Falls Arena.