The University of Jamestown led for all but 1:56 of the game while holding off a late second half rally by Wayne State as the Jimmies edged the Wildcats 73-70 in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played Saturday afternoon at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  UJ is now 9-7 overall and 7-3 in the NSIC North while WSC drops to 9-7 and 5-5 in the NSIC South.
            Wayne State only held the lead twice in the game, both coming in the first half.  In the first two minutes of the contest a Kai Smith 3-pointer followed by an Aurrion Harris pull up jumper giving the 'Cats a 5-3 lead. 
            Jamestown then scored nine of the next 11 points to take a 12-7 advantage, but later in the half WSC used baskets from Harris and Andrew Stokes to even the game at 18-18. 
            The other Wildcat lead came on a Darshan Thomas basket at the 8:14 mark of the first half putting the 'Cats in front 20-18.
            The Jimmies then used an 11-2 scoring surge to take the lead for good at 29-22.  After WSC got as close as three at 31-28 on a pair of Harris free throws with 3:09 to play in the half, Jamestown went on another scoring run with eight straight points to grab a 39-28 lead while finishing the first half with a 40-30 advantage into the locker room.
            Jamestown scored the first basket of the second half for their biggest lead of the game at 43-30. 
            The Jimmies still held a 10-point cushion near the midway point of the second half at 52-42 with 10:23 to play when WSC used a three-point play from Stokes, a dunk by Matt Noll and 3-pointer from JJ Ferrin to cut the deficit to two at 52-50.
            A three-point play by Harris with 6:11 remaining closed the gap to one at 56-55, but that's as close as the Wildcats would get to the Jimmies.
            Jamestown scored the next six points for a 62-55 lead with four minutes to go.  The Jimmies held a nine-point led at 69-60 with 41 seconds to play when WSC got a basket from Harris, a Kai Smith 3-pointer and another Harris layup to cut the deficit to two at 69-67 with 13 seconds left.
            But the Jimmies hit four free throws in the final 12 seconds and left Wayne with a 73-70 road win in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
            Noll and Harris each scored 17 points for Wayne State with Stokes adding 16.
            WSC shot just 39.4 percent from the field making 26 of 66 shots.  The 'Cats were only 5 for 20 behind the arc and 13 of 17 at the charity stripe.
            Anthony Walters paced Jamestown with a game-high 23 points followed by Owen Hektner with 18.
            Jamestown made 20 of 49 shots for 40.8 percent, connecting on 10 of 20 from the 3-point line along with 23 for 27 at the free throw stripe.
            WSC held a slim 37-35 edge in rebounding with Harris grabbing 12 boards for his second double-double of the season.  Stokes led WSC in assists with four and steals with three.
            The Wildcats are on the road next weekend, visiting Minnesota Crookston Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. and MSU Moorhead Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. contest.