Senior guard Sean Stokes sank a mid-range jumper with four seconds remaining to give the Wayne State men's basketball team a 67-66 win over Emporia State Friday morning in the season opener for both teams at the Hillyard Tip Off Classic hosted by Missouri Western in St. Joseph, Missouri.
            The Wildcats never held a lead in the opening half, but never trailed by more than six points to the Hornets. 
            Emporia State took an 11-6 lead at the first media timeout to open the game, but the 'Cats battled back and used a Kai Smith 3-pointer followed by a layup to tie the score at 15-15 at the 10:59 mark of the half. 
            The fourth tie of the opening half came at 25-25 with just over six minutes to play.  Emporia State closed the opening half with a 35-29 lead at intermission.
            Wayne State took their first lead of the game early in the second half on a 3-pointer by freshman Matt Noll putting the 'Cats in front 40-39 with 16:15 to play.
            A Ryan Blum 3-pointer gave WSC its biggest lead of the game at 45-41 at the 14:21 mark.
            Emporia State then went on a 12-2 scoring run and built a 53-47 advantage with 10:53 to play.
            The Hornets held their biggest lead of the game at 57-50 with 9:09 to play.  WSC slowly chipped into the deficit an regained the lead at 62-61 on a Cody McCullough layup with 4:09 remaining.
            The two teams traded leads down the stretch with the Hornets leading 66-64 at the 1:44 mark.
            McCullough sank one of two free throws to cut the ESU lead to 66-65 with 1:29 to play.
            Emporia State missed two free throws with 23 seconds left that would have extended the Hornet lead.
            On the next WSC possession, Stokes canned a jumper just right of the free throw circle with four seconds to play giving the 'Cats a 67-66 lead.
            A 3-pointer by Emporia State at the buzzer was off target and the Wildcats held on for the one-point win.
            Stokes and Noll each scored 12 points to pace Wayne State in the win followed by JJ Ferrin with 11.
            WSC made 24 of 55 shots from the floor for 43.6 percent, including 9 of 21 behind the arc.  The Wildcats were just 10 of 20 (50 percent) at the free throw line.
            Brayson Laube had 13 points for Emporia State with Malik Edwards adding 12.
            ESU was 21 of 55 from the field for 38.2 percent, making 8 of 23 from the 3-point line.  The Hornets connected on 16 of 21 free throws for 76.2 percent.
            Emporia State won the rebounding battle 39-31 with Noll hauling in seven boards for the Wildcats.  Noll also had five assists and three blocked shots for WSC.
            Wayne State faces #20 Northwest Missouri State Sunday at 2 p.m. to conclude play at the Hillyard Tipoff Classic hosted by Missouri Western in St. Joseph, Missouri.