WAYNE – The Wayne State College men’s basketball team closed out their home-opening weekend against NSIC North Division foe Northern State University.
From Rice Auditorium on the campus of Wayne State College, WSC entertained #6 Northern State University Sunday afternoon after falling to the Wolves 66-62 Saturday.
Northern State built a 16-point first half lead with 5:54 remaining until the break outscoring the ‘Cats 32-20. WSC could only get back within nine points a few times and suffered the 64-51 home loss. NSU improves to 2-0 while Wayne State College fell to 0-2 in cross division play.
The Wildcats recorded 20 turnovers which led to 11 points for Northern State.
Junior Jordan Janssen recorded his 28th career double-double thanks to 19 points and 13 rebounds (8-17 FG/3-6 FT) while also leading the team with three assists. Junior Nate Mohr added 12 points on 4-8 shooting from the field (1-1 3PT/3-3 FT). Rounding out the starting five junior Henry Penner had five points as senior Ben Dentlinger (team-high two steals and two blocks) and freshman Jay Saunders finished with two points each.
Other scoring off the bench came from redshirt freshman Justin Eagins with five points as freshmen Cody McCullough, Alec Millender and Zach LaFave all had two points.
WSC shot 21-58 (36.2%) from the field, 3-14 (21.4%) from behind the arc and 6-9 (66.7%) from the foul line.
Northern State was led by Mason Stark with 17 points and nine rebounds while Jordan Belka added 11 points and eight rebounds. Andrew Kallman scored 11 points in the second half. Parker Fox fouled out early in the second half after committing his fourth foul and receiving a technical foul on his way to the bench. He finished with five points, four boards and three blocks.
NSU finished 20-52 (38.5%) from the floor, 7-22 (31.8%) from the three-point line and 17-25 (68%) from the charity stripe.
1st 2nd Final:
32 32 64 – Northern State
20 31 51 – Wayne State
The Wayne State College men will next travel to St. Paul, Minnesota and visit Concordia-St. Paul on Friday and Saturday, January 8-9 at 6/2 p.m. to being NSIC South Division play. The women will host CSP and be carried on KCTY Friday and KTCH on Saturday. Pregame show coverage will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday.