Minnesota State held Wayne State without a basket for the final 7:07 of the first half and never trailed again as the visiting Mavericks defeated the Wildcats 81-69 in Northern Sun Conference South Division men's basketball Saturday afternoon at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC slips to 14-12 and 10-10 in the league while MSU is now 18-10 and 12-8 in the NSIC following the win.
            WSC got off to a quick start, bolting out to a 10-4 lead.  But the Mavericks reeled off nine straight points in the next 1:36 to gain a 13-10 lead on the 'Cats.
            The two teams would exchange six ties and six lead changes until MSU held WSC without a basket for the final seven minutes of the first half to take the lead for good.
            Wayne State's final lead of the game came at 21-19 on a Matt Noll layup with 7:07 remaining in the half.  The 'Cats made just three free throws the rest of the half as Minnesota State built a 33-24 halftime lead.
            Minnesota State held a double-digit lead for most of the first 10 minutes of the second half until the Wildcats made a run to get back into the game.
            MSU took their biggest lead of the game at 54-40 with 12:17 remaining.  WSC stormed back with a 13-2 scoring run over the next 3:47 to cut the Maverick lead to 56-53 on a Matt Noll dunk with 8:30 to play.
            WSC was still within three at 58-55 with 6:45 to play, but the Mavericks used an 11-3 run over the next 4:07 to push the lead back to double figures at 69-58 with 2:38 to play.
            The 'Cats got as close as six at 69-63 with 1:51 left but Minnesota State never let WSC get any closer and ended with an 81-69 win.
            Kai Smith scored a season-high 20 points for Wayne State on 7 of 12 shooting.  He also handed out a team-high five assists.  Aurrion Harris followed with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.  Noll chipped in 12 points and Andrew Stokes had 11 with Darshan Thomas scoring 10.
            Wayne State shot 41 percent for the game making 25 of 61 shots.  The 'Cats were 6 for 24 behind the arc and 13-18 at the foul line.
            Arhman Lewis was one of six Minnesota State players in double figures with 21.  Colton Benson scored 16 followed by Caden Kirkman and Will Opsahl with 12 apiece.  Malcolm Jones and Traijan Sain each had 10.
            MSU was 26 of 59 from the floor for 44.1 percent.  The Mavericks hit just 2 of 20 3-pointers and were 27-30 at the charity stripe.
            Minnesota State held a slim 37-36 edge in rebounding over WSC with Harris hauling in 10 boards for the 'Cats followed by Noll with seven.  Harris and Darshan Thomas each had two blocks. 
            Wayne State is on the road Wednesday evening visiting the University of Sioux Falls for an NSIC South Division contest at 7:30 p.m.