Sioux Falls 81 Wayne State 79

            Sioux Falls rallied from a 54-40 deficit with just over 15 minutes remaining and used a Matt Cartwright jumper with 6.2 seconds to play to edge Wayne State 81-79 Saturday afternoon in a Northern Sun Conference South Division men's basketball game played at the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  WSC drops to 5-4 and 2-1 in the NSIC while USF improves to 5-4 and 1-2 in league games.
            Wayne State led for nearly the entire first half.  The 'Cats jumped out to a 14-6 lead and was in front 20-12 at the nine minute mark following a basket by Zach LaFave.
            The Wildcats still held an eight point advantage at 32-24 with 3:44 to play following a Justin Eagins layup.
            Eagins scored 10 straight points for the 'Cats near the end of the first half and finished with 18 in the opening half as Wayne State held a 42-37 lead at intermission.
            Wayne State opened the second half with a 12-3 scoring surge and took their biggest lead of the night at 54-40 following two Alec Millender free throws with 15:42 to play.
            Sioux Falls then scored the next 10 points in just 3:12 and quickly reduced the double digit Wildcat lead to just four points at 54-50.
            The Cougars took their first lead of the second half at 68-66 on a Cartwright layup with 6:17 remaining.
            WSC came back with a Cody McCullough free throw and a 3-pointer by Eagins to take a 70-68 lead with 5:00 left.
            Wayne State's last lead was 72-71 following an Eagins layup with 3:47 to go.
            USF built a pair of three point leads with the last one coming at 79-76 with 53 seconds left.
            A Jordan Janssen three point play evened the score at 79-79 with 41 seconds remaining.
            WSC forced a USF miss on the next possession, but the Cougars grabbed an offensive rebound to maintain possession and took a timeout. 
            Cartwright then drained a jumper from the left elbow with 6.2 seconds left putting the Cougars ahead 81-79.
            Millender attempted a 3-pointer in the right corner as time expired but the shot was blocked by the Cougars to preserve the home court win.
            Eagins posted his second straight career-high scoring performance, producing 28 points on 11 of 15 shooting including 6 of 9 from the 3-point line.  Janssen contributed 23 points for the Wildcats.
            WSC shot 54.4 percent for the game, making 31 of 57 shots.  The 'Cats were 8 for 17 from 3-point range (47%) and 9-14 at the free throw line for 64 percent.
            Cartwright scored a game-high 32 to lead the Cougars, including the game-winner with 6.2 seconds to play.  Cedric Johnson added 14 points while Wesley Oba and Chase Grinde each chipped in 10.
            USF also shot above 50 percent, making 31 of 60 shots for 51.7 percent.  The Cougars were 7 of 21 behind the arc and 12-17 at the foul stripe.
            The Cougars held a 36-25 edge in rebounding over the Wildcats, grabbing 14 offensive boards.  Janssen grabbed eight boards for WSC.  Both teams had 11 turnovers in the game, but USF held a 17-12 edge in points off turnovers.
            Wayne State will be at home next weekend, hosting Concordia-St. Paul Friday at 5:30 p.m. and #17 Minnesota State Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.