Wayne State 86 Southwest Minnesota State 77

            Freshman forward Jordan Janssen's eighth double-double of the season with 18 points and a career-high 17 rebounds to lead Wayne State College in a hard fought 86-77 Northern Sun Conference men's basketball victory Friday evening over Southwest Minnesota State at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Wildcats remain in a first place tie in the NSIC South Division, improving to 19-7 overall and 14-7 in the NSIC, while SMSU is now 15-12 and 10-11 in league games.
            Southwest Minnesota State led a majority of the first half, taking a 10-5 lead in the first 4:30.  WSC then rallied with a 9-0 run for a short-lived 14-10 advantage at the 11:14 mark.
            The Mustangs stormed back for a 24-19 lead and took their biggest lead of the night at 31-25 on a Taylor Schaefer jumper with 2:20 to play in the half. 
            Wayne State then closed the half with the final nine points and used a Trevin Joseph jumper with six seconds left in the half to take a 34-31 lead at intermission.
            The Wildcats never relinquished the lead in the second half, but held off numerous charges by the Mustangs.
            WSC took their biggest lead of the night at 57-47 with 12:02 to play following a Vance Janssen layup.
            SMSU scored eight straight and cut the lead to two at 57-55 and later got within one at 71-70 with 5:29 remaining following a Kenny Byers layup.
            The sixth and final tie of the game occurred at 72-72 with 4:25 left. 
            With WSC leading 76-74 with 2:02 to play, the 'Cats used a Kendall Jacks layup, three-point play by Trevin Joseph and a pair of Jordan Janssen free throws for a little cushion, taking an 83-74 lead and ended with the 86-77 victory.
            Four Wildcats hit double figures, led by Jordan Janssen's 18 points and career-high 17 boards for his eighth double-double of the season.  Jacks finished with 17 points and needs just two points to surpass Brad Joens (1,556 points from 1997-2001) for fifth place in all-time scoring at WSC.
            Freshman Nick Ferrarini added 16 points with Joseph scoring 12.
            Wayne State shot 54.4 percent from the field making 31 of 57 shots.  The 'Cats were 7 of 16 from the 3-point line and 17 for 24 at the charity stripe.
            Ryan Bruggeman poured in a game-high 27 points for Southwest Minnesota State.  Michael Lee scored 11 points with Kenny Byers and Taylor Schafer each adding 10.
            SMSU was 30 of 65 shooting for 46.2 percent, including 8 of 25 behind the arc and 9 for 10 at the line.
            Wayne State held a commanding 42-25 advantage in rebounding over the Mustangs thanks to Janssen's 17 caroms.  Kendall Jacks added seven.
            Joseph, Nate Mohr and Vance Janssen each had three assists while Jordan Janssen had four steals.
            WSC will host the University of Sioux Falls Saturday at 5:30 p.m. on Senior Day to close out the regular season.