Box Score Sioux Falls 75 Wayne State 64

            The Wayne State College men's basketball team suffered a 75-64 defeat at Sioux Falls Saturday evening in the NSIC regular season finale despite shooting 54 percent (25-46) from the field.  The host Cougars improved to 21-7 and 17-5 in the NSIC South while WSC dropped to 10-21 and 7-15 in league play.
            The Wildcats held the lead for a good share of the first half until a late scoring run by the Cougars gave Sioux Falls the lead.
            WSC used a Henry Penner 3-pointer at the 9:48 mark of the opening half to take their biggest lead of the night at 18-13.
            The Wildcats were still in front 24-20 following a jumper from Al'Tavius Jackson with 5:58 left before halftime.
            Sioux Falls then outscored the Wildcats 13-4 to end the half with the Cougars closing the half with their biggest lead in the opening 20 minutes at 33-28.
            The 'Cats stayed within reach of the Cougars in the opening part of the second half until USF pulled away for a double digit lead in the final seven minutes.
            Sioux Falls was leading 40-34 when WSC used a Jackson 3-pointer and a pair of Jordan Janssen free throws to get within one at 40-39 with 15:00 to play.
            The Cougars reeled off the next seven points for a 47-39 lead.  A Nate Mohr 3-pointer got WSC to within 52-47 with 10:35 to play.
            Sioux Falls slowly extended their lead to double digits – 63-53 with 6:27 to play – and went on to finish with the 75-64 victory.
            Jordan Janssen led Wayne State in scoring with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting.  Al'Tavius Jackson chipped in 15 points with Nick Ferrarini adding 10.
            The Wildcats shot 54.3 percent from the field, their third-best shooting night of the season, going 25 of 46 from the field.  WSC was 6-13 from 3-point range and 8 of 14 at the foul stripe.
            Sioux Falls saw Jack Thompson score a team-high 18 points for the Cougars, one of five players in double figures.  Devon Green (13), Milan Surlic (12), Troy Houghton (11) and Chase Grinde (10) also reached double digits.
            The Cougars made 29-58 shots for an even 50 percent, including 9-21 behind the arc, and 8-12 at the free throw line.
            Sioux Falls held a 30-24 edge in rebounding over the Wildcats with Janssen grabbing eight for WSC.
            The Wildcats begin play in the opening round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament Wednesday evening with a road trip to MSU Moorhead, the #3 seed from the NSIC North Division with game time set for 6 p.m.