Wayne State 74 Southwest Minnesota State 56

            Wayne State saw four players score double figures while the Wildcats shot over 50 percent for the fifth straight game in a 74-56 NSIC South Division men's basketball victory Saturday afternoon over Southwest Minnesota State at the R/A Facility in Marshall, Minnesota.  The Wildcats move to 9-3 in the division and 9-5 overall and while the Mustangs drop to 2-7 and 0-5 in the NSIC South Division.
            SMSU held an early 6-5 lead in the game, then Wayne State scored the next 13 points over a span of 3:56 to take the lead for good and take a double digit lead at 18-6 following a Nate Thayer 3-pointer with 12:07 left in the first half.
            WSC maintained a double digit lead for most of the half until a late scoring spurt by SMSU cut the Mustang deficit to single digits.
            Wayne State's biggest lead of the half was 26-12 and the 'Cats still led 28-16 at the 5:23 mark when the Mustangs began their comeback.
            The Mustangs scored eight straight points and got within four at 28-24 with 3:52 to go in the half. 
            After getting as close as three at 32-29, SMSU stayed close with WSC the rest of the half and the Wildcats finished with a 40-35 lead at the break.
            SMSU scored the first four points of the second half to close within one at 40-39. 
            WSC shut the door on the Mustangs and scored the next 11 points to push the lead back to double figures at 51-39 on a Ben Dentlinger basket with 13:14 to play.
            Wayne State increased the led to 22 at 68-46 on a Jay Saunders 3-pointer with 6:56 to play and the 'Cats closed with a 74-56 win.
            Junior forward Jordan Janssen recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds to pace a balanced Wildcat attack.  Justin Eagins followed with 13 points while Nate Mohr (12) and Alec Millender (10) also hit double digits for WSC.
            For the fifth straight game, Wayne State shot over 50 percent as the 'Cats made 30 of 57 shots for 52.6 percent.  WSC was 7 for 16 behind the arc and 7 of 9 at the foul line.
            SMSU was led by Sam Schwartz with 13 points while Grant Kramer added 11.
            The Mustangs were 21 of 56 from the field for 37.5 percent and 9 of 22 from the 3-point line. 
            WSC held a 36-29 edge in rebounding over SMSU thanks to 13 boards by Janssen and eight from Saunders.
            Wayne State concludes the regular season next weekend with road games at Augustana Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday in a 3 p.m. contest at the Sanford Pentagon.