#9 Minnesota Duluth 91 Wayne State 83

            #9 Minnesota Duluth had five players score in double figures as the visiting Bulldogs handed Wayne State College a 91-83 home loss in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball Saturday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Wildcats fall to 10-7 and 7-4 in the NSIC South while the Bulldogs improve to 17-2 and 10-2 in the NSIC North following the victory.
            Wayne State trailed a majority of the first half until a late scoring surge gave the Wildcats a one point lead (38-37) at intermission.
            Minnesota Duluth raced out to a 20-11 lead eight minutes into the contest and was in front 25-15 with 8:39 to play in the first half.
            The Bulldogs still held a 33-28 advantage with 2:51 to go before halftime when the 'Cats got a three point play from Jordan Janssen, 3-pointers from Justin Eagins and Alec Millender and a Millender free throw to end the half, giving the 'Cats a one point lead at the break.
            The second half saw WSC hold the lead just once along with two ties as the visiting Bulldogs used a scoring run at the midway point of the second half to take control of the game.
            An offensive rebound and putback by Janssen tied the score for the last time at 47-47 with 16:20 remaining.
            The game remained close with WSC still trailing by just two points at 65-63 with 8:53 to go.  But Minnesota Duluth went on a 13-3 scoring surge over the next four minutes and built a 78-66 lead that was too much for the Wildcats to rally from.
            Minnesota Duluth sealed the win making 18 of 20 free throws in the second half, many in the final two minutes, to hand the Wildcats their second home loss in 11 games this season.
            Janssen and Eagins paced Wayne State in scoring with 19 points apiece while Nate Mohr and Alec Millender each chipped in with 14 points.
            Wayne State shot 47.7 percent from the field making 31 of 65 shots including 7 for 20 behind the arc.  The 'Cats were 14-19 at the charity stripe.
            Austin Andrews recorded a game-high 26 points for Minnesota Duluth.  Drew Blair followed by 20 and Jack Middleton scored 17.  Joshua Brown and Jacob Shields each added 10 points for the Bulldogs.
            Minnesota Duluth was 29 of 59 shooting for 49.2 percent.  The Bulldogs made 7 of 21 3-pointers and sank 26 of 30 free throws.
            UMD had one more rebound than WSC 34-33.  Cody McCullough hauled in nine rebounds for the 'Cats followed by Janssen with seven, making him just the fourth player in school history to record 900 rebounds (900).
            Millender had four assists followed by Mohr with three and a team-high three steals.  Janssen recorded three blocked shots with Ben Dentlinger adding two.
            Wayne State is on the road next weekend for NSIC cross-division play, visiting Minnesota Crookston Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and Bemidji State Saturday at 5:30 p.m.