Minnesota Duluth 77 Wayne State 72

            Minnesota Duluth held Wayne State to just 27 percent shooting in the second half as the visiting Bulldogs outscored WSC in the second half 41-32 to rally for a 77-72 Northern Sun Conference men's basketball win over Wayne State College at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC slips to 17-7 and 12-6 in the NSIC South, tied for first place with Minnesota State, while UMD is now 14-8 and 11-7 in league play.
            Both teams shot excellent in the first half that saw WSC hold the lead most of the time, but never led by more than five points.
            UMD was 15 for 25 (60%) in the first half while WSC made 18 of 32 shots for 56 percent. 
            The fifth tie of the first half was 26-26 with 6:06 to play.  WSC used a 3-pointer from Kendall Jacks at the 2:15 mark to take a five point lead at 35-30 and the 'Cats took a 40-36 lead at halftime thanks to a Trevin Joseph trey with one second left in the half.
            Minnesota Duluth scored the first seven points of the second half and never trailed the rest of the night.
            With the score tied for the seventh and final time at 44-44, UMD scored seven straight to take a 51-44 lead.
            The Wildcats closed with four at 55-51 on a Al'Tavius Jackson layup with 9:06 to play, but UMD answered the run and took their first double digit lead of the game at 64-54 with 5:20 remaining.
            The Bulldogs still led by 10 at 72-62 with 1:15 to play, but WSC used a 3-pointer and layup from Vance Janssen followed by a Kendall Jacks layup with 43 seconds left to cut the deficit to four at 73-69. 
            After forcing a UMD turnover, Jacks was called for an offensive foul with a chance to cut the deficit to two and UMD sealed the win with free throws for the final score of 77-72.
            Jacks led Wayne State with 19 points and moved into sixth place all-time in career scoring at Wayne State with 1,511 points.  Jordan Janssen scored 14 followed by Vance Janssen with 12 and Trevin Joseph 11.
            After shooting 56 percent in the opening half, WSC was held to 9 of 33 shooting in the second half (27%) and finished the game making 27 of 65 shots for 41.5 percent.  The 'Cats were 5 of 17 from the 3-point line and 13 for 19 at the charity stripe.
            Sean Burns led Minnesota Duluth with 22 points and 10 rebounds while Brandon Myer produced 19 points and 12 boards.  Hunter Plamann (14) and Logan Rohrscheib (10) also scored double figures.
            Minnesota Duluth shot 51 percent for the game making 26 of 51 shots.  UMD was 6 of 17 behind the arc and made 19 of 33 free throws.
            UMD out-rebounded WSC 40-32 with Jordan Janssen grabbing eight boards for the Wildcats.
            Jacks and Vance Janssen each had three assists while Nick Ferrarini had three steals.
            WSC will be on the road next weekend, visiting Concordia-St. Paul Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Minnesota State Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in NSIC South Division games.