Wayne State 86 Southwest Minnesota State 80

            Wayne State overcame an 18-5 deficit to start the game and the Wildcats sank a season-high 30 of 36 from the free throw line that allowed the Wildcats to complete a home NSIC sweep Saturday night with an 86-80 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC is now 7-19 overall and 4-16 in the NSIC while SMSU drops to 12-14 and 8-12 in league play.
            The Wildcats got off to a shaky start, trailing 12-2 and 18-5.  With WSC still trailing 26-15 at the 7:48 mark of the first half, the Wildcats put together a 14-2 run over the next 3:52 to take their first lead of the game at 29-28 on a Tyler Nagy 3-pointer with 3:56 to play in the first half before WSC finished with a 32-30 lead at halftime.
            Wayne State came out strong in the second half and pushed the lead to 43-36 on a Jordan Cornelius 3-pointer with 17:24 left in the game.  SMSU stormed back with an 11-3 run and took the lead at 47-46 on a Mitch Weg three point play with 12:55 remaining.
            The game remained close until the Wildcats pulled away in the final four minutes for the win.
            SMSU's Trevor Moen tied the game for the eighth and final time at 62-62 with 4:21 to go in the contest.
            Freshman Kendall Jacks hit a jumper and 3-pointer followed by a layup and three point play by senior center Patrick Kurth that gave WSC a 72-65 lead with 2:41 to play.
            The final 2:30 turned into a foul-fest and free throw shooting contest as SMSU could only get as close as four points as Wayne State made 14 of 16 free throws down the final 2:24 to seal the 86-80 home win.
            Freshman forward Jordan Cornelius led Wayne State in scoring with 19 points followed by Kendall Jacks with 16 and Patrick Kurth 10.
            The Wildcats shot 47.1 percent from the field, making 24 of 51 shots.  WSC was 8 for 18 behind the arc and shot a season-best 30 of 36 (83.3%) at the foul stripe.
            Turner Moen produced a game-high 25 points for SMSU with Cole Martin adding 20 and Mitch Weg 19.
            The Mustangs made 33 of 65 shots for 50.8 percent, canning 5 of 11 from the 3-point line and 9 of 15 at the free throw stripe.
            Wayne State won the rebounding battle over the Mustangs 36-30 thanks to nine caroms from Jacks and seven by Jordan Holdsworth.  Weg hauled in eight boards for SMSU.
            SMSU held a commanding 52-28 edge on points in the paint while scoring one more point than WSC off turnovers 19-18.
            WSC had 18 turnovers to 14 on SMSU.  Sophomore guard Joel Heesch had four assists for WSC while Patrick Kurth finished with three blocks.
            The Wildcats will close out the NSIC regular season next weekend with a road trip to Winona State Friday at 8 p.m. and Upper Iowa Saturday in a 6 p.m. contest.