Junior guard Aurrion Harris poured in a career-high 24 points to lead Wayne State's second half rally past Northern State 86-79 Friday evening in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC improves to 9-6 overall and 5-4 in league play while the visiting Wolves drop to 5-10 and 5-4 in the NSIC.
            Wayne State trailed a majority of the game (33:38-3.45) and was down 68-58 with 8:48 remaining when the Wildcats made their comeback in the second half while playing the contest without their top scorer Matt Noll, who sat out the contest due to illness.
            Northern State used blistering shooting from the 3-point line in the first half, making 9 of 20, to grab the early lead on the Wildcats. 
            WSC trailed early 8-2 but battled back to forge a 16-16 tie at the 13:44 mark.  The Wolves continued their hot 3-point shooting and pushed the advantage to 11 at 36-25 with 4:57 to play in the half. 
            Still trailing by seven (40-33) with 1:28 to play before halftime, WSC scored seven straight to knot the score at 40 before the Wolves closed the half with a 43-42 lead.
            Northern State increased their lead through the second half and was in front 68-58 with 8:48 to go when Wayne State began their comeback.
            WSC still trailed 74-68 at the 2:43 mark, then went on a 16-2 run to take control of the game.
            A three-point play by Harris tied the score at 76-76 with 1:29 to play and senior guard Kai Smith followed with a four-point play giving WSC their first lead of the second half at 80-76 with 57 seconds left.  Four free throws by Harris and two from Eldon Turner in the final 27 seconds sealed Wayne State's comeback win 86-79 over Northern State.
            Harris ended with a game-high and career-high 24 points, besting his previous career-best of 22 vs. Sioux Falls December 3.  He was 11-11 at the charity stripe and 6 of 9 from the field while also grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.
            Smith finished with 16 points followed by JJ Ferrin with 13 and 10 each from Turner (a career-high) and Darshan Thomas.
            Wayne State shot 51.8 percent from the field making 29 of 56 shots.  The 'Cats were 10 of 19 behind the arc and 18 for 21 from the free throw line.
            James Glenn scored 18 points for Northern State.  Ty Rogers added 14, Marshawn Smith scored 13, Nelson Reynolds had 12 and Joshua Book 11.
            Northern State made 28 of 70 shots for 40 percent including 13 of 39 from 3-point range.  The Wolves were 10 for 11 at the line.
            The Wolves held a 41-30 edge in rebounding with Harris grabbing eight boards for WSC.  Wayne State held a 24-7 edge in points off turnovers.
            Harris also led WSC in steals with five while Thomas produced five blocked shots. 
            The Wildcats will be at home again Saturday afternoon hosting the University of Jamestown at 3:30 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.