Southwest Minnesota State 83 Wayne State 65

            Southwest Minnesota State raced out to a 44-26 halftime lead and never looked back in topping Wayne State 83-65 Friday evening in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played in Marshall, Minnesota at the R/A Facility.  The host Mustangs are now 9-4 overall and 5-2 in the NSIC while WSC drops to 3-10 and 0-7 in league play.
            SMSU took early leads of 6-0 and 9-4 on the Wildcats.  Freshman Tyler Nagy drained consecutive 3-pointers to give Wayne State its only lead of the game at 10-9 with 16:20 to go in the first half.
            The Mustangs then went on a 14-2 run over the next 4:50 to take a 23-12 lead at the 11:30 mark of the first half.
            WSC pulled within seven at 23-16 thanks to a Trae VandeBerg layup and dunk from senior center Patrick Kurth.
            But the Mustangs put the game out of reach with a 17-3 run, taking a commanding 40-19 lead before ending the first half with a 44-26 lead.
            Both teams scored 39 points in the second half as the Mustangs went on to the 83-65 win.         
            Freshman Trae VandeBerg paced Wayne State in scoring with 17 points, going 6 of 8 from the field including 5 for 7 from 3-point range.  Sophomore Joel Heesch also reached double figures with 11.
            The Wildcats made 25 of 51 shots from the field for 49 percent.  WSC was 9 for 26 from 3-point range and just 6 of 12 at the charity stripe.
            Joey Bartlett led four Southwest Minnesota State players in double digits with 17 points.  MJ Delmore (16), Mitch Weg (14) and Cole Martin (12) rounded out top scorers for the Mustangs.
            SMSU was 32 of 61 shooting for 52.5 percent, going 9 for 24 behind the 3-point line and 10 for 14 at the foul line.
            The Mustangs held a sizeable 36-23 advantage in rebounding over Wayne State as Carter Kirk grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for SMSU while Heesch hauled in six boards for the Wildcats.
            Freshman Kendall Jacks handed out five of Wayne State's 19 assists in the game while Heesch and Jordan Cornelius each had two steals.
            Wayne State will play again Saturday in a 6 p.m. NSIC contest at the University of Sioux Falls.