Box Score Wayne State 74 Winona State 59

            Wayne State built a 36-20 halftime lead and never looked back as the Wildcats completed a season sweep of Winona State with a 74-59 Northern Sun Conference men's basketball win Saturday evening over the Warriors at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC improves to 10-18 and 8-14 in the NSIC while Winona State drops to 11-15 and 8-14 in league play.  WSC ends sixth in the NSIC South Division thanks to a sweep of Winona State this season.
            The Wildcats started slowly, trailing 10-2 in the first five minutes.  WSC then took its first lead of the game at 13-12 on a Vance Janssen layup with 9:39 to go in the first half and never trailed again.
            Leading 26-20 with 3:48 left before halftime, WSC scored the final 10 points of the first half to take a 36-20 lead at intermission.
            WSC put the game out of reach early in the second half, scoring 10 of the first 12 points in the half for a 46-22 lead. 
            Winona State did make one final run at the Wildcats, getting as close as eight at 53-45 with 8:38 left.
            The Wildcats then responded with the next five points to push the lead back to 13 and eventually had the lead back to 17 (69-52) before finishing with the 74-59 win.
            Wayne State shot 49 percent from the field making 26 of 53 shots.  The 'Cats were 8 for 19 behind the 3-point line and 14 for 15 at the charity stripe. 
            Kendall Jacks led a balanced Wildcat attack with 14 points.  Austin Esters followed with 13 while Jordan Cornelius accounted for 10.
            Winona State was 21 of 55 shooting for 38.2 percent.  The Warriors were 9 of 23 from downtown and 8 for 10 at the foul line.
            Riley Bambenek was the lone Warrior in double figures with 12 points. 
            WSC held a 34-28 edge in rebounding on Winona State thanks to eight caroms by Cornelius and seven from Brian Goodwin.  The Wildcats held a 32-21 edge on points in the paint and 28-18 in bench scoring.
            Janssen handed out five assists to lead WSC to go with two steals.
            The Wildcats will be on the road Wednesday evening for a first round game in the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament traveling to St. Cloud State for a 7 p.m. contest.