Junior reserve guard Kai Smith scored a season-high 25 point off the bench on 11 of 15 shooting to power Wayne State past #14 Minot State 78-69 in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC is now 11-7 and 5-7 in the NSIC, recording their second Top 25 victory on the season, while the visiting Beavers drop to 17-3 and 8-3 in league play.
            Wayne State never trailed in the game thanks to red-hot shooting in the opening half.  The Wildcat then held off a Minot State second half rally to pick up the victory.
            Thanks to strong shooting, the 'Cats jumped out to a double-digit advantage before the midway point of the first half.  A JJ Ferrin 3-pointer put WSC in front 21-9 at the 11:52 mark. 
            Minot State made a run at the Wildcats and closed to within four at 28-24 with 6:00 to go in the half.
            WSC then closed the half strong with Smith scoring nine points in a stretch of less than two minutes, helping the 'Cats push the lead to 45-28 before closing the half with a 48-35 lead.
            The 'Cats closed the opening half making 19 of 29 shots for 65.5 percent with Smith pouring in 19 points in the half on a perfect 8 of 8 shooting including 3 for 3 behind the arc.
            WSC maintained a double-digit lead for the first five minutes of the second half, but Minot State started getting hot from the field and used a 10-0 run in a span of just 2:31 to cut the Wildcat lead to 59-55 at the 12:47 mark.
            The Beavers got as close as two at 61-59 with 11:34 remaining.  Four straight points by Ferrin and a 3-pointer from Ryan Blum pushed the Wildcat lead back to eight at 69-61 with just over seven minutes to play.
            Wayne State was able to hold off the Beavers late and sank 7 of 8 charity tosses in the final minute to seal the 78-69 win over the nationally ranked Beavers.
            Smith led the Wildcats with a game and season-high 25 points thanks to 11 of 15 shooting off the bench.  Ferrin ended the night with 17 points while freshman forward Matt Noll scored 14.
            WSC ended the game making 28 of 58 shots for 48.3 percent, including 10 for 23 from 3-point range.  The 'Cats were 12 of 15 at the line.
            Caleb Van De Griend had 19 points and 16 rebounds for Minot State.  Jaxon Gunville also scored 19 with Ayouba Berthe scoring 13.
            Minot State shot 49 percent from the field making 25 of 51 shots.  The Beavers were 9 of 23 from behind the arc and 10 of 13 at the line.
            The Beavers held a slim 31-29 edge in rebounding on the Wildcats as Jay Saunders grabbed six boards for WSC.
            Saunders handed out seven assists in the win while Noll and Sean Stokes each recorded three steals.
            Wayne State is on the road next weekend for NSIC games at Minnesota Crookston Friday at 5:30 p.m. and at MSU Moorhead Saturday at 3:30 p.m.