Wayne State 84 University of Mary 62

            Wayne State rode a game-high 28 points from senior guard Trevin Joseph and a season-high 61.1 percent from the field (33-54) as the Wildcats pulled away in the second half for an 84-62 victory over the University of Mary Wednesday evening in the opening round of the 2019 NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament at Rice Auditorium. With the win, the 20-9 Wildcats record their first 20-win season since the 1999-2000 campaign when WSC was 26-6 in Greg McDermott's final year on the Wildcat sideline while Mary ends the year at 12-17.
            The visiting Marauders were the team that was hot shooting the ball to start the game, making their first eight shots to take an 18-14 lead on the Wildcats with 13:34 to play in the first half.
            WSC scored the next six points, a jumper from Kendall Jacks and two layups from Al'Tavius Jackson, to grab a 20-18 lead. 
            Mary did not go away as the Marauders were still within two at 32-30 with 3:20 to play in the half following a pair of Dennis Austin III free throws.
            The Wildcats went on a 9-2 run and took their biggest lead of the half at 41-32 on a 3-pointer from Trevin Joseph before closing the half with a 43-35 lead.
            After the Marauders opened the second half with a basket to close within six (43-37), WSC used a Jacks 3-pointer and a layup by Joseph to take a 48-37 lead and force a Mary timeout.
            WSC then started to take control of the game.  The Wildcats used a 14-4 run to extend a 50-41 lead to 64-45 following a dunk by Jordan Janssen at the 11:24 mark.
            The Wildcats then pushed the lead over the 20-point mark and WSC ended with the 84-62 win.
            Wayne State shot a season-high 61.1 percent from the field, making 33 of 54 shots including 8 of 16 behind the arc.  WSC was 10 for 15 at the charity stripe.
            Trevin Joseph poured in a game-high 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting (4-7 from 3-point range) to lead Wayne State in scoring.
            Senior Kendall Jacks added 15 points and moved from fifth to third place in all-time scoring at WSC with 1,590 points, moving past Dennis Siefkes (1,576 from 1969-73) and Amry Shelby (1,582 from 2009-13).
            Jordan Janssen also reached double digits for WSC with 13 points.
            Matthew Kreklow led Mary with 18 points while Jaylan White (11) and Dennis Austin III (10) also hit double figures for the Marauders.
            Mary was 20 of 53 from the field for 37.7 percent and 3 for 18 behind the arc while making 19 of 24 at the line.
            WSC held a 32-29 edge in rebounding over the Marauders with Jordan Janssen grabbing eight to lead the 'Cats.
            Jordan Janssen, Vance Janssen and Nick Ferrarini each had four assists while sophomore Ben Dentlinger matched a career-high with five blocked shots to impress the Wildcat student body and fans in attendance.
            The Wildcats now advance to the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinals on Sunday evening at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls facing St. Cloud State in an 8 p.m. contest.