Wayne State 79 #25 Minnesota State 69

            Wayne State used 26-30 free throw shooting to hold off #25 Minnesota State 79-69 Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The host Wildcats are now 7-4 overall (7-1 at home) and 4-1 in the NSIC while MSU drops to 7-3 and 2-3 in league play.
            Despite Minnesota State leading for just 20 seconds of the contest, the game was close throughout until Wildcat free throws late sealed the double digit win.
            WSC took a quick 9-2 lead four minutes into the contest.  MSU rallied and took their lone lead of the game at 13-11 on a Ryland Holt basket at the 11:01 mark of the first half.
            The Wildcats came back and built an eight-point lead at 23-15 with 5:39 to go following a Jordan Janssen old-fashioned three point play.
            The visiting Mavericks then scored the next eight points to knot the score at 23-23 before WSC closed the first half with a 31-27 halftime lead.
            WSC started the second half strong and built their first double digit lead at 40-29 on a Justin Eagins 3-pointer.
            Minnesota State battled back again and got within one at 42-41 with 12:00 remaining.
            The Mavericks were still within two at 51-49 with 8:38 to play when WSC started to put the game out of reach.
            The 'Cats scored the next six points for a 57-49 advantage and went in front 63-52 on a Alec Millender layup with 5:42 remaining.
            WSC never allowed MSU to make another comeback as the 'Cats canned 22 of 26 free throws in the second half, many coming in the final five minutes, as the Wildcats topped the Mavericks 79-69.
            Eagins led Wayne State and all scorers with 23 points, including 12-14 at the stripe.  Jordan Janssen followed with 19 points while Millender and Jay Saunders also hit double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively.
            WSC made 25 of 56 shots from the field for 44.6 percent, making 3 of 12 3-pointers.  The 'Cats made a season-high 26 of 30 at the charity stripe.
            Brady Williams led Minnesota State with 19 points and 11 rebounds.  Kyreese Willingham poured in 15, Harrison Braudis 14 and Devonte Thedford 10.
            Minnesota State was 27 of 63 from the field for 42.9 percent.  The Mavericks were 8 for 25 from 3-point range and 7 of 15 at the stripe.
            Wayne State won the rebounding battle over MSU 37-28 thanks to nine boards each by Janssen and Cody McCullough. 
            Both teams had 14 turnovers in the game.  Eagins had four steals for the 'Cats while Ben Dentlinger notched three blocked shots.
            The Wildcats hit the road next weekend for NSIC South Division games at Winona State Friday evening (5:30 p.m.) and Upper Iowa Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.).