Southwest Minnesota State erased a 20-point first half deficit and 18-point halftime margin by outscoring Wayne State 51-29 in the second half to stun the Wildcats 75-71 in NSIC South Division men's basketball Saturday afternoon at the R/A Facility in Marshall, Minnesota.  The Mustangs are now 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the NSIC while WSC drops to 5-4 and 1-2 in league play.
            The 'Cats got off to a strong start, never trailing in the first half.  WSC built an early 10-point lead at 13-3 on a JJ Ferrin 3-pointer at the 14:25 mark of the first half. 
            Later in the half the 'Cats still held a double-digit advantage at 25-15 with 6:49 to go before halftime.  WSC then used a 13-4 run and took a 38-19 lead on a Matt Noll jumper and pushed the lead to 20 at 41-21 following a Kai Smith 3-pointer with 1:55 left before halftime as WSC ended the opening half with a comfortable 42-24 lead.
            Wayne State forced 12 SMSU turnovers in the opening half while holding the Mustangs to just 38 percent shooting while WSC was hitting on 48 percent in the first half making 14 of 29 shots.
            Early in the second half the Wildcats still maintained a double-digit advantage until head coach Jeff Kaminsky was called for a technical foul at the 14:49 mark with WSC leading 48-33.  SMSU made both technical free throws followed by three consecutive 3-pointers for an 11-0 run cutting the Wildcat lead to 48-44.
            A Ben Kerkhoff 3-pointer put WSC back in front by seven at 51-44, but the 'Cats scored just two points over the next 5:44 as SMSU went on a 12-2 run to take the lead for the first time in the contest and never relinquish again.
            A Kai Smith trey got WSC within one at 57-56 with 7:29 remaining. 
            After SMSU built the lead back to four several times, sophomore forward Matt Noll scored seven straight points for the Wildcats and got WSC within one at 64-63 on a three-point play at the 3:54 mark.
            The Mustangs took their biggest lead of the contest at 73-68 with 1:01 left, but Wayne State's Darshan Thomas drained a 3-pointer from the left corner with 45 seconds to play cutting the SMSU lead to 73-71.
            WSC forced a turnover on the next possession and had a chance to tie the game but Noll's running layup from the right side just missed and SMSU grabbed the rebound and was fouled where the Mustangs drained a pair of free throws with six seconds to play to complete the rally and the 75-71 win.
            Matt Noll led Wayne State in scoring with 23 points on 8 of 15 shooting from the floor and 7-8 at the free throw line.  He also had six rebounds, six assists and four steals.  Andrew Stokes chipped in 17 points with JJ Ferrin and Kai Smith also reaching double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively.
            WSC shot 24 of 58 from the field for 41.4 percent, going 7 for 21 behind the arc and 16 for 22 at the free throw line.
            Jakob Braaten scored 22 points for SMSU.  Aaron Stevens and Micah Schlaak each added 13 with Landon Pokorski scoring 12.
            The Mustangs shot 48 percent from the field making 24 of 50 shots.  SMSU was 9 of 27 from the 3-point line and 18 for 24 at the charity stripe.
             WSC had one more rebound than SMSU, 34-33.  Stokes grabbed eight boards for the 'Cats with Aurrion Harris adding seven. 
            WSC plays on the road again next weekend as the Wildcats visit Minnesota State Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and at St. Cloud State Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest.