Box Score Bemidji State 78 Wayne State 76

            Bemidji State's Christian Pekarek hit a 3-pointer from the left wing at the buzzer to hand Wayne State a heartbreaking 78-76 Northern Sun Conference men's basketball loss Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  BSU is now 9-14 and 7-10 in the NSIC North while WSC falls to 7-16 and 5-12 in the NSIC South.
            Wayne State held the lead for 36:07 in the contest while Bemidji State led for just 1:28, but it was the Beavers coming up with late-game heroics to pick up the win.
            WSC was solid early in the game, taking an 18-7 lead at the 12:22 mark on a Kendall Jacks jumper.  The 'Cats took their biggest lead of the night at 29-16 with 7:07 to go before halftime on a Jacks 3-pointer and led again by 13 at 31-18 with 5:46 to play in the half.
            With WSC leading 35-25 with 3:23 left before halftime, Bemidji State closed the half strong and cut the Wildcat advantage to 37-33 at halftime.
            The Wildcats held a seven-point lead (52-45) with 12:30 remaining.  Bemidji State rallied and forced the game's third tie at 54-54 on a layup by Jai'Vionne Green with 9:32 to play.
            Neither team held a lead of more than four points the rest of the game.
            WSC led 71-67 with 4:30 remaining following a pair of Matt Thomas free throws.  The 'Cats still led 74-71 with 3:20 to go after two Austin Esters free throws.
            A Ben Best layup followed by a Green layup with 10 seconds to play gave Bemidji State a rare lead at 75-74. 
            Wayne State's Vance Janssen was fouled with 5.2 seconds remaining and sank both charity tosses to put the 'Cats ahead 76-75.
            Best took the inbounds pass for BSU and found Pekarek on the left wing, who then drained a high-arching 25 footer next to the Beaver bench as time expired allowing the Beavers to hand WSC a heartbreaking defeat.
            Wayne State made 28 of 66 shots from the field for 42.4 percent.  The 'Cats were 5 for 19 behind the arc and 15 for 18 at the free throw line.
            Jacks led WSC in scoring with 19 points followed by Matt Thomas with 15.  Brian Goodwin and Austin Esters accounted for 14 points apiece.
            Bemidji State was 29 of 55 shooting for 52.7 percent, going 16 for 28 (57%) in the second half.  The Beavers were 10 of 21 from 3-point range and 10 out of 14 from the foul stripe.
            The Beavers held a 39-28 advantage in rebounding over WSC.  Best had 10 caroms for BSU while Jacks and Jordan Cornelius grabbed five for the Wildcats. 
            WSC forced 21 turnovers on Bemidji State, leading to a 23-9 advantage on points off turnovers.  The Wildcats had just seven turnovers in the contest.
            Wayne State will be home again Saturday, entertaining Minnesota Crookston in a 6 p.m. contest.