Wayne State 99 Upper Iowa 71

            Wayne State jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never trailed as the Wildcats rolled to a 99-71 NSIC South Division men's basketball win Friday evening over the Upper Iowa Peacocks at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC improves to 4-3 and 4-1 in the NSIC South Division while the Peacocks drop to 2-5 and 0-3 in the division.
            The 'Cats took a quick 10-0 lead in the opening 2:20 of the contest thanks to jumpers from Nate Mohr and Jordan Janssen along with 3-pointers from Alec Millender and Jay Saunders.
            Upper Iowa battled back and forged a 19-19 tie at the 10:43 mark of the half, but WSC took the lead for good on baskets from Cody McCullough and Janssen and never trailed the rest of the night.
            The visiting Peacocks were within three at 28-25 with 7:38 to play in the half, but Wayne State used a 10-2 run to take their first double digit lead of the game at 38-27 on a Nate Mohr basket with 4:55 to play in the half.
            The 'Cats closed the half strong and took a 48-32 lead at intermission thanks to 50 percent shooting (20-40) in the first half.
            Wayne State continued their high scoring attack in the second half, taking a 21-point lead (57-36) three minutes into the second half.
            WSC maintained a lead of 20 or more points for a majority of the second half and used 57 percent shooting in the second half (20-35) to pull away for the 99-71 win.
            Junior forward Jordan Janssen paced Wayne State with his 30^th career double-double of 23 points and 16 rebounds, making 10 of 15 shots from the field.
            Freshman guard Jay Saunders contributed 16 points followed by Mohr with 13, McCullough a season-high 12 and Alec Millender 11.
            Wayne State ended the night making 40 of 75 shots for 53.3 percent, going 11-26 from the 3-point line and 8 of 10 at the free throw stripe.
            Jareese Williams scored 15 points to lead Upper Iowa.  The Peacocks shot 37.7 percent making 23 of 61 shots and were 8 of 26 behind the arc while making 17-23 free throws.
            WSC held a commanding 54-23 edge in rebounding thanks to 16 boards from Janssen followed by McCullough with eight.
            Mohr handed out six of Wayne State's 21 assists in the contest.
            WSC held a 52-26 edge on points in the paint and 24-4 in second chance points over the Peacocks.
            Upper Iowa and Wayne State face off again Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.