Senior forward Cody McCullough scored 15 of his career-high 26 points in the second half as Wayne State College rallied from a 10-point deficit with nine minutes remaining to edge Minnesota Crookston 78-76 in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball Friday evening at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston, Minnesota.  The Wildcats move to 12-7 overall and 6-7 in the NSIC with the win while the host Golden Eagles drop to 3-16 and 2-11 in the league.
            McCullough's career-high night helped offset a 35-point performance by Minnesota Crookston guard Reid Grant.
            The Wildcats got off to a strong start, leading 11-4 less than 3:30 into the contest.   The rest of the opening half saw neither team hold a lead bigger than four points as the two clubs exchanged 11 lead changes with eight ties.
            After WSC started with an 11-4 lead, UMC scored the next eight points for a 12-11 lead.  JJ Ferrin and Sean Stokes connected on 3-pointers giving the 'Cats a 17-14 lead, but the Golden Eagles battled back and took their biggest lead of the opening half at 24-20 at the 8:49 mark.
            Later in the half, Ferrin hit another trey giving the 'Cats a 29-26 lead.  After Minnesota Crookston gained a 36-33 lead, the two teams settled the first half with a 38-38 tie.
            The host Golden Eagles held the lead for the first 14 minutes of the opening half and built a 10-point lead with just under nine minutes to play when the Wildcats started their rally.
            Minnesota Crookston took a 60-50 lead at the 9:30 mark, but WSC held the Golden Eagles scoreless for the following 3:39 while scoring 12 straight points to take a 62-60 lead following a McCullough layup with 5:52 to play.
            The rest of the game was close throughout and within one possession until WSC held a four-point lead with 10 seconds to play.
            McCullough scored eight straight points for WSC, giving the 'Cats a 68-67 lead with 3:36 left.  Minnesota Crookston scored a basket on the next possession for their final lead of the game at 69-68. 
            Freshman forward Matt Noll scored Wayne State's next five points, putting the 'Cats back in front 73-71 on a pair of tree throws with 58 seconds to play.
            UMC tied the score for the final time at 73-73 with 46 seconds to go, then McCullough's tip-in gave the 'Cats the lead for good at 75-73 12 seconds later. 
            McCullough sank a pair of free throws with 10 seconds to go for a 77-73 lead.  UMC made a 3-pointer four seconds later to make the score 77-76.  McCullough was fouled on the inbounds pass and made one of two free throws for a 78-76 lead and a 3-pointer by Minnesota Crookston to end the game was missed giving WSC the narrow win.
            McCullough's career-high 26 points led WSC in scoring, topping his previous career-best of 20 vs. Minnesota State in December.  He was 9 of 13 from the field and 8 for 11 at the line.  Noll ended with 18 points while Ferrin finished with 14.
            Wayne State made 24 of 57 shots for 42 percent, going 5 of 19 from 3-point range and 25 of 36 at the free throw line.
            Reid Grant's 35 points paced Minnesota Crookston followed by Andrew Stokes with 16 and Micah Garrett 10.
            Minnesota Crookston shot 50.9 percent from the field making 27 of 53 shots.  The Golden Eagles were 6 for 21 behind the arc and 16 of 17 at the free throw line.
            WSC held a slim 34-31 edge in rebounding over UMC with McCullough grabbing nine boards followed by Noll with eight. 
            The Wildcats conclude their NSIC road trip Saturday afternoon visiting MSU Moorhead at 3:30 p.m.