WAYNE – With two road games left on the schedule next weekend, the Wayne State College women’s and men’s basketball teams began a two-game homestand in mid-February.
From Rice Auditorium, the ‘Cats hosted Concordia-St. Paul during a NSIC South Division showdown Friday night.
In the women’s contest, the Golden Bears stole the ball late in the game to make the go-ahead basket to win 81-80. Concordia-St. Paul improves to 13-12 (10-9 NSIC) while WSC fell to 16-9 (11-8 NSIC).
Wayne State held a 16-15 first quarter lead before CSP used a 20-15 second to go up 35-31 at the break. Wayne State won the high-scoring third 30-29 and held an edge in the fourth at 19-17 but lost late by a point.
Four of the five Wildcat starters contributed double figure scoring with Erin Norling going for 22 points, seven rebounds and three blocks (10-16 FG/1-1 3PT/1-4 FT) while Halley Busse added 20 points and nine assists (6-11 FG/2-5 3PT/6-8 FT). Brittany Bongartz tallied her third double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds (6-15 FG/1-1 FT) as Autumn Mlinar scored 12 points (4-6 FG/4-4 3PT).
Other scoring came from Haley Vesey with six points, Kylie Hammer added four points and Josey Ryan tacked on three points.
The Wildcat women shot 29-59 (49.2%) from the field, 10-17 (58.8%) from behind the arc and 12-17 (70.6%) from the foul line.
Sidney Wentland and Riley Wheatcraft both scored 20 points for Concordia-St. Paul while Danielle Schaub added 12 points.
CSP finished 28-61 (45.9%) from the floor, 8-20 (40%) from the three-point line and 17-20 (85%) from the charity stripe.
During the men’s game, Concordia-St. Paul scored 10 of their 14 points in overtime from the foul line to win 93-89 in extras. The Golden Bears improve to 8-15 (6-13 NSIC) as the ‘Cats dropped their third straight to sit 10-18 (7-12 NSIC).
Wayne State led 34-32 after the opening half while CSP outscored the ‘Cats 47-45 as the game went into overtime tied at 79-79. The Golden Bears won the OT scoring, 14-10.
All five Wildcat starters scored double figures led by a career-high 22 points from Al’Tavius Jackson (9-16 FG/3-7 3PT/1-2 FT) as Nick Ferrarini also scored 22 points while adding four steals and four assists (7-17 FG/3-6 3PT/5-6 FT). Jordan Janssen recorded his 14th double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds to go along with five assists and three blocks (4-15 FG/8-10 FT). Both Ben Dentlinger (5-7 FG/0-1 3PT) and Nate Mohr (4-9 FG/2-4 3PT) scored 10 points.
Henry Penner poured in five points off the bench as Nate Thayer tallied four points.
The Wildcat men shot 33-74 (44.6%) from the field, 9-22 (40.9%) from behind the arc and 14-19 (73.7%) from the foul line.
Concordia-St. Paul also had five players finish with double figures as Lee Higgins scored 25 points and grabbed eight boards. Cody Carlson added 18 points, Jordan Coblin tacked on 17 points, Max Keefe finished with 14 points and Jacob Shields poured in 11 bench points.
CSP finished 32-58 (55.2%) from the floor, 8-19 (42.1%) from the three-point line and 21-27 (77.8%) from the charity stripe.
The Wayne State College basketball teams will close out their regular season home schedule Saturday hosting Minnesota State-Mankato during senior day. Game times are scheduled for 3:30/5:30 p.m. Wildcats being recognized will be Evelyn Knox and Taylor Wangerin for the women as well as Al’Tavius Jackson and Obi Patrick for the men.
Join Voice of the Wildcats, Aaron Scheffler on Big Red Country ‘KTCH’ 104.9 and waynedailynews.com with pregame show coverage set for just after 3 p.m.