Wayne State forced a season-high 21 turnovers and shot 56.7 percent in the second half (17-30) to outlast Sioux Falls 66-61 Thursday evening in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played at the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls.  The win for Wayne State made head coach Jeff Kaminsky the all-time wins leader at WSC with his 122^nd win in his ninth season, breaking the previous mark of 121-73 held by Al Svenningson from 1959-67.  Wayne State is now 8-4 and 2-4 in the NSIC while Sioux Falls slips to 6-6 and 2-4 in league contests.
            Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the opening half.  Wayne State's only lead of the half was the first basket of the game at 2-0. 
            Sioux Falls built a pair of eight-point leads in the first half at 12-4 and 19-11 with 7:43 to play in the half.
            The Wildcats got within one at 24-23 on a pair of Kai Smith free throws with 2:50 remaining in the half as Sioux Falls closed with a 27-23 lead.
            WSC made just 9 of 30 shots in the first half (30 percent) while USF was slightly better at 9 of 24 for 37.5 percent.
            Wayne State opened the second half with seven points in just over one minute to take the lead thanks to baskets by Noah Erickson and Matt Noll capped by an Erickson trey for a 30-27 lead.
            The two teams then exchanged seven lead changes and four ties until the Wildcats held the lead for good in the final six minutes withstanding several charges by the Cougars.
            A 3-pointer by Kai Smith put the 'Cats in front 39-36 with 13:28 remaining.  The Cougars rallied and took their biggest lead of the second half at 46-42 with nine minutes to play.
            With USF holding a 49-48 advantage, WSC took the lead for good with seven straight points on an Erickson layup, 3-pointer by JJ Ferrin and a Sean Stokes layup for a 55-49 lead.
            The Cougars closed within two at 58-56 at the 2:15 mark, but Jay Saunders converted a layup and Stokes made two free throws to extend the WSC lead to 62-56. 
            USF got as close as three at 64-61 with 30 seconds left.  Smith missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 28 seconds to play, giving the Cougars one last chance to tie the score.  USF missed three 3-pointers and Smith got the rebound and sealed the Wildcat road win with 7.8 seconds remaining for the 66-61 victory.
            Noll had 16 points on 8 of 13 shooting to lead Wayne State in the win.  He also had a team-high eight rebounds and four steals.  Smith ended with 13 points while Ferrin also hit double figures with 11.
            Thanks to 56.7 percent shooting in the second half, WSC ended the contest making 26 of 60 shots for 43.3 percent.  The 'Cats were 6 for 22 behind the arc and 8 of 14 from the charity stripe.
            Taylen Ashley scored 19 points to lead Sioux Falls with Noah Puetz adding 11.
            USF shot 38.9 percent for the game on 21 of 54 shots, going 9 of 25 from 3-point range and 10 of 13 at the line.
            Sioux Falls held a 37-25 edge in rebounding, but WSC held advantages of 18-11 in points off turnovers and 36-22 points in the paint. 
            Sean Stokes handed out a career-high six assists for the Wildcats while Saunders and Smith each had three steals.
            WSC is at home Saturday hosting Augustana at 5:30 p.m. in the final game of 2024 before the holiday break.