Wayne State 84 Winona State 78

            Wayne State shot 54 percent from the field, but had to hold off a late Winona State rally to defeat the Warriors 84-78 Saturday afternoon in NSIC South Division men's basketball played at McCown Gymnasium in Winona, Minnesota.  WSC has now won six straight meetings against Winona State and improves to 6-4 overall and 6-2 in the NSIC South Division while host Winona State falls to 3-4 and 1-3 in divisional play.
            The big stories of the first half for the Wildcats were 63 percent shooting as a team (17-27) and 17 points from freshman guard Alec Millender.
            After WSC opened the game with a quick 7-2 lead, Winona State roared back and took a 15-10 lead over the Wildcats at the 13:08 mark of the first half.
            Winona State's final lead of the game was 22-21 with 9:22 to play in the half.
            With WSC leading 25-24 at the 7:34 mark of the half, the 'Cats used a 12-2 run to take a 37-26 advantage with 4:14 to play in the half.
            Wayne State pushed the lead to 43-28 at the 2:20 mark before finishing with a 45-36 lead at intermission.
            The Wildcats held a double digit lead for most of the second half until a furious rally by Winona State in the final four minutes of the game before WSC held on for the victory.
            Wayne State's biggest lead of the game was 64-47 with 13:41 remaining following a pair of Jay Saunders free throws.
            The 'Cats still held a 15-point lead at 74-59 with 4:18 remaining when the Warriors began their charge.
            WSC held a 76-66 advantage with 2:09 left, but Winona State got within four at 82-78 with 30 seconds to play.
            A pair of Nate Mohr free throws with 26 seconds to play sealed the 84-78 win.
            Millender finished with 21 points to lead Wayne State, making 5 of 7 shots from the field and a perfect 11-11 at the charity stripe.  Mohr followed with 18 points while Jordan Janssen recorded his fifth straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Justin Eagins also hit double digits with 10.
            WSC shot 54.2 percent from the field making 26 of 48 shots.  The 'Cats were 8 of 23 from the 3-point line and made 24 of 32 free throws for 75 percent.
            Kevion Taylor and Connor Dillon each scored 21 points for Winona State.  Owen King also hit double digits with 10.
            Winona State made 25 of 56 shots for 44.6 percent, going 14-31 behind the arc along with 14-19 at the free throw line.
            WSC won the rebounding battle 33-26 with Janssen grabbing 10 boards for the Wildcats followed by Cody McCullough with six.  McCullough also had three blocked shots and three assists.
            WSC returns home next weekend to host #19 Sioux Falls in NSIC South Division contests Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2:30 p.m.