Wayne State 70 Midland University 66

            Wayne State College made 14 of 16 free throws in the second half while sophomore Kendall Jacks poured in a team-high 20 points as the Wildcats held off a second half rally to defeat Midland University 70-66 in a men's college basketball exhibition game played Tuesday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.
            Midland scored the opening four points of the game, but WSC held the lead for the remainder of the first half while building a 35-26 halftime advantage.
            A pair of Jacks free throws at the 7:55 mark of the first half gave the 'Cats their first double digit lead of the night at 24-14.  WSC led by as many as 13 in the first half at 29-16 following a Ben Hoskins 3-pointer.  After Midland cut the lead to seven at 33-26 the Wildcats used a Matt Thomas layup on the final play of the first half for a 35-26 lead at intermission.
            Wayne State pushed the lead to 11 a couple of times early in the second half until Midland made a run and took the lead from the Wildcats.
            An Austin Esters layup gave WSC a 44-33 lead with 12:28 to play.  Midland then went on a 14-2 run over the next 3:16 and took a 47-46 lead on a Diamontae McKinley layup with 9:12 remaining.
            The Warriors pushed the led to five at 57-52 on an Alex Starkel layup at the 5:11 mark when WSC scored the following eight points to regain the lead for good.
            A three point play by Vance Janssen put the 'Cats in front 60-57 with 2:01 to play.  Midland got as close as one at 60-59, but WSC sank 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch and got a key layup from Thomas with 38 seconds remaining to hang on for the 70-66 win.
            Wayne State ended the game making 21 of 49 shots for 42.9 percent including 6 of 17 behind the arc.  The 'Cats were 22 of 29 at the free throw line including 14 of 16 in the second half.
            Kendall Jacks led WSC in scoring with 20 points followed by Vance Janssen and Jordan Cornelius with 10 apiece. 
            Midland University was 24 of 49 from the floor (49%) and just 4 of 17 from 3-point range.  The Warriors were 14 of 21 at the foul line.
            Damon Overton led the Warriors with a game-high 21 points followed by Diamontae McKinley (13), Alex Starkel (12) and Don Henderson 10).
            Midland out-rebounded WSC 35-27 thanks to 11 caroms from Henderson while Cornelius hauled in eight rebounds for Wayne State.  Midland had 21 turnovers in the game to 14 on WSC.  Janssen had four of Wayne State's 11 assists to go with two steals along with Cornelius.
            Wayne State travels to Omaha Friday evening for a 7 p.m. exhibition game at Creighton University.