Northern State 85 Wayne State 61

            Northern State made 11 of their first 13 shots to open the second half to break open a close game as the Wolves pulled away for a 85-61 Northern Sun Conference men's basketball win Saturday evening over Wayne State at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The visiting Wolves are now 19-5 and 13-5 in league play while the Wildcats fall to 5-19 and 2-16 in the league.
            The game was tied three times with six lead changes in the first half.  WSC built an early 10-5 lead as freshman guard Tyler Nagy sank a pair of 3-pointers and a jumper to get the Wildcats off quickly. 
            Wayne State's final lead came at 12-11 on a Joel Heesch layup, then Northern State built a pair of four-point leads before WSC came back to tie the score several times. 
            An Austin Esters trey evened the score at 21 with 10:38 to play in the half.  It was the final tie of the game as the Wolves built an eight point lead at 41-33 before finishing with a 41-35 lead at halftime.
            Northern State used sizzling shooting early in the second half, making 11 of 13 shots out of the locker room, to take control of the game.  With NSU leading 57-47, the Wolves went on a 14-3 run over a span of 6:30 to take a 71-50 lead and finished with an 85-61 victory.
            Senior center Patrick Kurth led WSC with 16 points followed by freshman guard Tyler Nagy with 15.
            WSC was just 21 of 52 shooting for 40.4 percent, going 4 of 17 behind the arc and 15 for 22 at the foul line.
            Skye Warwick scored a game-high 18 points for Northern State.  Darin Peterka (14), Tydan Storrusten (11) and DJ Pollard (10) also reached double digits for the Wolves.
            Northern State shot 51.7 percent for the game on 31 of 60.  The Wolves were 6 for 7 from the 3-point line and 17 of 22 at the foul line.
            The Wolves out-rebounded Wayne State 35-31 with Justin Decker and Seth Bachand leading NSU on the glass with seven boards while Kendall Jacks grabbed six boards for the Wildcats.
            WSC had 14 turnovers to just eight by Northern State.  The Wolves held a 44-23 edge on points in the paint and 19-7 on points off turnovers. 
            Nagy handed out three assists for WSC while Kurth had two steals.
            The Wildcats will be at home next weekend, facing Sioux Falls Friday at 8 p.m. and Southwest Minnesota State Saturday in a 6 p.m. contest.