Minnesota Crookston 61 Wayne State 57

            Wayne State nearly erased a 13-point deficit in the final 7:30 minutes, but Minnesota Crookston held on for a 61-57 Northern Sun Conference men's basketball win over the Wildcats Friday evening at Rice Auditorium.  The visiting Golden Eagles moved to 4-4 and 2-2 in league play while WSC drops to 2-7 and 0-4 in the NSIC.
            Minnesota Crookston led for most of the first half.   With the score tied at 14, UMC went on a 10-2 run to take their biggest lead of the half at 24-16 with 7:55 to play before halftime. 
            Wayne State responded with a 13-2 run over the next 4:27 and took a 29-26 lead on a Kendall Jacks layup at the 3:28 mark before the half ended in a 30-30 tie.
            After each team traded baskets to open the second half, UMC scored 13 of the next 15 points for a 45-34 lead at the 14:04 mark. 
            UMC still held a 13 point lead at 51-38 with 7:32 remaining when the Wildcats mounted a rally.  With WSC still down 54-44 with 5:00 to play, the 'Cats got within three at 56-53 on a Jamie Pearson trey with 1:46 to play.
            But UMC got a 3-pointer on the next possession from Derrick Redd to go back in front by six and WSC could only get as close as four the rest of the way in a 61-57 loss.
            Senior center Patrick Kurth paced Wayne State in scoring with 14 points followed by sophomore Joel Heesch and junior guard Jamie Pearson with 13 apiece.
            The Wildcats shot 42.3 percent from the field making 22 of 52 shots, going just 2 of 11 behind the arc and 11 for 16 at the charity stripe.
            Minnesota Crookston was led by Kevin Larson's 16 points followed by a double-double from Tyler West with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
            UMC shot 42.9 percent from the field on 21 of 49 shots, going 9 for 19 from 3-point range and 10 of 13 at the foul line. 
            Both teams had 17 turnovers but Minnesota Crookston held a 21-9 advantage on points off turnovers.
            Wayne State held a 34-28 advantage in rebounding thank to eight caroms by Kurth and seven from Heesch.  Heesch led WSC with five assists while Kurth notched a career-high four blocked shots.
            Wayne State will be in action again Saturday evening hosting Bemidji State in a Northern Sun Conference contest beginning at 6 p.m.