Nebraska-Kearney 77 Wayne State 64

            Nebraska-Kearney shot 59 percent in the second half (13-22) and outscored Wayne State 40-25 to rally for a 77-64 win over the Wildcats in a non-conference men's basketball game played Wednesday evening at Kearney High School.  The host Lopers are now 6-4 on the year while WSC falls to 5-9 and remains winless (0-8) away from Rice Auditorium.
            The Wildcats were the hot shooting team in the first half and held the lead for nearly the entire half. 
            WSC made 15 of 26 shots (57.7 percent) and after leading by as many as 11 held a 39-37 lead at intermission.
            Wayne State built a 17-11 lead five minutes into the contest following a 3-pointer from Al'Tavius Jackson. 
            The Wildcats took their first double digit lead of the night on a Henry Penner three-point play at the 10:04 mark for a 27-16 advantage.
            WSC still held a nine point lead at 32-23 with 5:48 to play in the half, but UNK scored nine straight points to knot the score at 32-32 and took a short lived lead at 35-33 before WSC used a Jordan Janssen jumper with 23 seconds left to take a 39-37 lead at intermission.
            Janssen's basket would be the final time Wayne State led in the game.
            Nebraska-Kearney opened the second half with a 12-2 run and held a double digit lead for most of the second half to rally past the Wildcats.
            The Lopers' 12-2 run to start the second half gave UNK a 49-41 lead.  UNK's biggest lead of the night was 13 points on several occasions. 
            Wayne State got as close as seven points at 67-60 with 4:47 to play.  But after shooting 57 percent in the opening half, the Wildcats could only make six baskets in the second half going 6 for 22 for 27 percent as the Lopers rallied for the win.
            Nick Ferrarini scored a game-high 21 points on 7 of 11 shooting to lead Wayne State.  Jordan Janssen also hit double digits with 18 points.
            It was a tale of two halves shooting for WSC, who finished the game 21 of 48 for 43.8 percent, including 4 for 15 behind the 3-point line.  The 'Cats were 18 of 26 at the charity stripe.
            AJ Jackson recorded 19 points for UNK followed by Jake Walker with 17 and Morgan Soucie 13.
            UNK shot 26 of 48 in the game for 54.2 percent and connected on 10 for 21 behind the arc for 47.6 percent.  The Lopers were 15 of 20 at the foul line.
            Nebraska-Kearney held a narrow 29-27 edge in rebounding over WSC despite nine boards from Janssen. 
            Wayne State will close out their four-game road trip Saturday with an NSIC South Division contest at Augustana University starting at 5:30 p.m.