Wayne State built a 16-point second half lead, then held off a Southwest Minnesota State rally to edge the Mustangs 69-67 in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played Tuesday evening in Rice Auditorium.  The 'Cats improve to 15-10 and 9-10 in the league while SMSU slips to 18-7 and 13-6 in league play.
            The first half was close throughout until a Wildcat scoring surge in the final two minutes of the half gave WSC a double-digit lead at the break.
            Southwest Minnesota State held a 14-12 lead at the 11:28 mark.  With the Mustangs still leading 15-14, WSC used a three-point play from Cody McCullough and a 3-pointer by Jay Saunders to grab a 20-15 advantage. 
            After the 'Cats pushed the lead to seven at 24-17, the Mustangs scored nine straight points over the next 3:36 to regain the lead at 26-24.
            WSC used a pair of Matt Noll free throws and a Sean Stokes 3-pointer to go back in front 29-26 and the 'Cats closed the final 1:55 of the half with 10 straight points to take a 39-28 lead at intermission.
            The Wildcats maintained a double figure lead for the first part of the second half until the Mustangs made their charge at Wayne State's lead.
            A free throw by McCullough put WSC ahead 44-28 for their biggest lead of the game with 16:50 to play. 
            WSC still held a 53-44 lead with 10:41 to play when the Mustangs made their move. Eight straight points by SMSU cut the Wildcat lead to one at 53-52 with 8:54 remaining.
            The 'Cats pushed the lead back to six at 62-56 after a McCullough three-point play with four minutes to play.
            WSC was still in front 65-60 with 50 seconds to play, but the Mustangs made four free throws to cut Wayne State's advantage to one again at 65-64. 
            McCullough and Sean Stokes each hit a pair of free throws with eight and four seconds to play allowing WSC to hang on for the 69-67 win.
            Wayne State was led by McCullough in scoring as he posted his fifth double-double of the season accounting for 17 points and 11 rebounds.  Sean Stokes chipped in 11 points with Matt Noll scoring 10.
            WSC was 24 of 55 shooting for 43.6 percent, going 8 of 27 from the 3-point line, while making 13 of 19 free throws.
            Steven Kramer led Southwest Minnesota State with 21 points.  Jakob Braaten added 13 points with Dunwa Omot scoring 12.
            SMSU held a 38-34 edge in rebounding over Wayne State with McCullough grabbing 11 boards for the 'Cats.  McCullough also had four assists and three steals with Kai Smith adding three assists, two steals and two blocks.
            The Wildcats will be at home again this weekend hosting St. Cloud State Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Bemidji State Saturday for Senior Day in a 3:30 p.m. contest.