Wayne State rallied from an 11-point deficit with 12:00 to play to edge Nebraska-Kearney 65-64 in a non-conference men's basketball game played Wednesday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Wildcats captured their 17^th straight non-conference win dating back to the 2022 season opener and move to 5-0 on the season while the Lopers drop to 0-4.
            The visiting Lopers held the lead for much of the first half (13:36), opening the contest with a 10-7 lead.
            Wayne State battled back with an 11-2 scoring run over the next 2:50 and took a 18-12 lead on a Jay Saunders 3-pointer with 13:08 to play in the half.
            After the 'Cats pushed their lead to seven at 22-15, the Lopers reeled off 11 straight points to take a 26-22 lead at the 8:28 mark. 
            WSC closed within one several times but UNK scored the final six points of the half to grab a 37-30 lead at the break.
            The Lopers took their biggest lead of the game at 44-32 with 17:17 to play and still held a 49-38 advantage at the 12:13 mark when the Wildcats began their comeback.
            UNK was still in front 51-46 with 9:11 to play when the Wildcats scored 12 points in a row to grab a 58-51 lead on a Matt Noll basket with 6:29 remaining.
            The Lopers rallied and evened the score at 59-59 at the 3:42 mark to play.  A basket and two free throws by Cody McCullough put WSC back in front four at 63-59. 
            Following a UNK basket, Noll made one of two free throws with 52 seconds left to give the 'Cats a 64-61 lead.
            A 3-pointer by UNK's Chereef Knox tied the score at 64-64 with 34 seconds to play.
            Wayne State's Jay Saunders was fouled with 8.3 seconds to play and made the first of two free throws for a 65-64 lead.
            UNK's Ja'Bryant Hill drove the lane in the closing seconds and missed a shot from the right of the lane as WSC held on for the 65-64 win.
            Noll had 13 points to lead Wayne State in scoring followed by JJ Ferrin with 11.
            WSC shot 44.4 percent from the field on 20 of 45, going 5 for 12 behind the arc.  The 'Cats were 20 of 29 at the free throw line.
            Chase Thompson and Ja'Bryant Hill each scored 13 points for Nebraska-Kearney with Allen Taylor adding 10.
            UNK made 23 of 61 shots for 37.7 percent including 5 of 20 from 3-point range.  The Lopers were 13 for 20 at the free throw line.
            Both teams had 35 rebounds in the game.  McCullough had 10 boards for WSC to go with five blocked shots. 
            Jay Saunders handed out five assists.
            The Wildcats open Northern Sun Conference play on the road Tuesday evening visiting #18 Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minnesota at 7:30 p.m.