Sioux Falls 77 Wayne State 65

            Sioux Falls held Wayne State to just 38 percent shooting as the Cougars pulled away in the second half to defeat the Wildcats 77-65 in a Northern Sun Conference South Division men's basketball game Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC falls to 5-11 and 2-5 in the league while the Cougars are now 10-3 and 6-1 in the NSIC South.
            The Wildcats held a 17-12 lead at the 9:55 mark of the first half, but the Cougars held WSC scoreless for the next 5:13 while scoring 14 straight points to build a 26-17 advantage with 4:37 to play in the half.
            Trailing 30-22, WSC scored the final six points of the first half and used a Nate Mohr 3-pointer at the buzzer to trim the Sioux Falls lead to 30-28 at intermission.
            An early scoring run by Sioux Falls in the second half put the game out of reach, never allowing WSC a chance to get back into the contest.
            A Nate Thayer 3-pointer got WSC within three at 36-33 with 16:58 remaining.  The Cougars scored the next eight points to take an 11-point lead at 44-33.
            Wayne State closed within six at 46-40 at the 12:50 mark following a basket from Al'Tavius Jackson.
            But Sioux Falls put the game out of reach with an 11-2 run, going in front 58-42 with 8:20 remaining. 
            The Cougars maintained a double figure lead the rest of the game and finished with the 77-65 win.
            Four Wildcats reached double figures in the game, led by sophomore center Jordan Janssen's ninth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go with five blocked shots.  Al'Tavius Jackson (13), Nate Mohr (12) and Nate Thayer (10) also hit double figures for Wayne State.
            WSC had its third-worst shooting night of the year, making just 22 of 57 shots for 38.6 percent.  The 'Cats were 7 of 22 from the 3-point line and 14-21 at the charity stripe.
            Sioux Falls also had four players reach double digits, led by Trevon Adams with 16 points while Austin Slater followed with 15 points and 13 rebounds.  Chase Grinde and Teathloach Pal added 10 points apiece.
            The Cougars made 28 of 70 shots from the floor for 40 percent, including 9-19 behind the arc.  USF was 12 of 19 at the free throw stripe.
            Wayne State had one more rebound than Sioux Falls 44-43.  Janssen grabbed 10 boards for WSC followed by Ben Dentlinger, Tramarcus Levi and Henry Penner with six each. 
            WSC had 16 turnovers in the game to just six for USF, resulting in a 15-6 advantage for the Cougars in points off turnovers.  The Wildcats did record a season-high 10 blocked shots with Janssen rejecting five shots followed by Dentlinger with two.
WSC will be at home again Saturday hosting Southwest Minnesota State at 5:30 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.