Wayne State 82 Southwest Minnesota State 54

            Wayne State used 58 percent shooting and four players in double figures as the Wildcats led from start to finish in an 82-54 NSIC South Division men's basketball win Friday evening at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minnesota.  WSC now takes over first place in the NSIC South Division with an 8-3 division mark (8-5 overall) while SMSU falls to 2-6 and 0-4 in the division. 
            The 'Cats used a lengthy scoring run early in the game to build a double digit advantage and never look back.
            With WSC holding a 6-4 lead at the 15:28 mark, the Wildcats scored the next 13 points over a stretch of 4:13 to build a 19-4 advantage following two straight baskets from Alec Millender to end the scoring run.
            Wayne State held a double figure lead the rest of the night.
            WSC hit 14 of 27 shots in the first half while holding SMSU to just 26 percent shooting (7-26) as the Wildcats held a 35-20 lead at intermission.
            The Wildcats never allowed a chance for SMSU to make a comeback in the second half as WSC scorched the nets on 19 of 30 shooting in the second half (63.3%) that included a stellar 7-10 performance behind the arc as 10 different Wildcats scored in the convincing 82-54 victory.
            Junior forward Jordan Janssen paced a balanced Wildcat attack with 15 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.  Millender also scored 15 points while Nate Mohr and Justin Eagins each produced 13 points.
            Wayne State ended the night making 33 of 57 shots for 57.9 percent and connected on 11 of 18 3-pointers.
            Jake Phipps had 11 points for Southwest Minnesota State while Cliff McCray and Sam Schwartz each accounted for 10 points.
            The Mustangs shot 37.7 percent making 20 of 53 shots including 10 of 26 from 3-point range.
            WSC held a sizeable 40-22 edge in rebounding over SMSU thanks to 10 boards by Janssen and nine by freshman Cody McCullough.
            Millender had six assists with Janssen adding five while Ben Dentlinger matched a career-high with five blocked shots.
            The two teams play again Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Marshall, Minnesota.