In a game where neither team led by more than five points featuring 20 lead changes and six ties, Wayne State College blocked a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds to hang on for a 66-63 Northern Sun Conference South Division mens basketball win at Concordia-St. Paul Saturday evening at the Gangelhoff Center. The Wildcats complete a weekend road sweep and are now 8-15 and 5-9 in the NSIC while CSP is 6-12 and 4-10 following the loss.
Concordia-St. Paul held a pair of four point leads in the first half – 17-13 and 19-15 – for their biggest leads of the game.
With the host Golden Bears leading 27-25 at the 4:18 mark of the first half, Wayne State used a 3-pointer from Nate Mohr, a Nate Thayer jumper and 3-pointer and a basket from Nick Ferrarini to end the half taking a 33-32 lead.
Mohr opened the second half with a 3-pointer giving WSC a rare four-point lead at 38-34.
CSP then scored eight straight points and matched their biggest lead of the night at four – 42-38.
The Wildcats battled back and forged the games sixth and final tie at 52-52 on a Ferrarini layup with 10:29 remaining.
Concordia-St. Pauls Max Keefe hit a 3-pointer for the final Golden Bear lead of the night at 55-52.
WSC then used baskets from Jordan Janssen and AlTavius Jackson capped by a three-point play from Janssen to take the lead for good at 59-55 with 6:22 to play.
The Golden Bears got within two at 61-59 with 3:56 to play and neither team scored again until a pair of Mohr free throws for the Wildcats with 1:26 left for a 63-59 Wildcat lead.
After CSP closed with two again (63-61), Mohr canned a 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 38 seconds left for a 66-61 Wildcat lead.
Jordan Coblin drained a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left to get the Golden Bears within three at 66-63.
The Cats overcame a pair of turnovers in the final 22 seconds and blocked a game-tying 3-pointer by Concordia-St. Pauls Carlos Barela with two seconds to play sealing the 66-63 Wildcat win.
Mohr led Wayne State in scoring with a game-high 19 points, making five 3-pointers in the contest. Ferrarini finished with 16 points while Janssen nearly recorded a triple double accounting for 15 points, a career-high nine assists, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
As a team, Wayne State was 26 of 65 from the field for 40 percent, going 9 for 27 behind the arc and just 5 of 7 at the foul line.
For Concordia-St. Paul, Jacob Shields scored 15 points with Lee Higgins, Coblin and Keefe each recording 12 points.
CSP was 25 of 58 from the floor for 43.1 percent, including 7 of 19 from 3-point range. The Golden Bears were 6-7 at the charity stripe.
Wayne State held a 41-32 advantage in rebounds thanks to 16 offensive caroms, resulting in a 15-2 edge in second chance points over the Golden Bears. Henry Penner grabbed nine boards with Janssen adding eight for WSC.
Janssen led the Cats in assists (9), blocks (4) and steals (2).
The Wildcats will be at home next weekend, hosting the University of Mary Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and Minot State Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Sophomore reserve guard Kylie Hammer scored a career-high 22 points and Wayne State outscored Concordia-St. Paul 28-14 in the fourth quarter to rally for an 83-74 Northern Sun Conference South Division womens basketball victory Saturday afternoon in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Gangelhoff Center. The Wildcats improved to 14-6 and 9-5 in the NSIC while the host Golden Bears fall to 9-11 and 6-8 in the league.
The first half was a tightly contested matchup featuring seven ties and five lead changes.
After host Concordia-St. Paul jumped to an early 7-2 lead, WSC scored nine straight points for an 11-7 lead and closed the first quarter with an 18-17 lead.
Although the Wildcats held the advantage much of the second quarter, the WSC lead was no bigger than five points and the Wildcats used a pair of Hammer free throws to end the half to take a narrow 39-38 lead at the break.
Wayne State pushed the lead to six early in the third quarter at 49-43 following a Hammer 3-pointer at the 5:39 mark.
But Concordia-St. Paul went on a 17-3 scoring run over the next 4:15 and took a 60-52 lead on the Wildcats before closing the third quarter with a 60-55 lead.
The Golden Bears took their biggest advantage of the game at nine – 64-55 with 8:30 remaining – when Wayne State went on a game-decisive scoring surge.
WSC outscored CSP 16-2 and used back-to-back 3-pointers from Halley Busse and Hammer to take a 71-66 lead with 3:42 to play.
Concordia-St. Paul was within four and had several chances to get closer, but WSC got an offensive rebound and put-back from freshman Josey Ryan to take a 75-69 lead with 1:22 to play and the Cats sealed the win making free throws late, finishing the quarter a perfect 12-12, to cap the comeback with the 83-74 win.
Hammer finished the game with a career-high 22 points, missing just one shot in the contest. The Wayne sophomore was 7 of 8 from the field, 3-3 behind the arc and 5 for 5 at the foul line. Junior center Brittany Bongartz contributed her second double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds, including 9 of 9 at the stripe. Junior forward Erin Norling added 18 points with Busse chipping in 11.
Wayne State made 25 of 57 shots from the field for 43.9 percent and made just 4 of 20 behind the arc. The Wildcats scorched the nets from the foul line making a season-best 29 of 31 for 93.5 percent.
Danielle Schaub paced Concordia-St. Paul with 24 points followed by Sydney Schultz and Meghan DuBois with 14 and 12 points respectively.
Concordia-St. Paul was 27 of 66 shooting for 40.9 percent including 8 of 21 from the 3-point line. The Golden Bears were 12 for 18 at the stripe.
WSC won the rebounding battle over CSP 40-35 thanks to 11 boards from Bongartz and nine by Norling. Autumn Mlinar and Busse were each credited with three assists while Awoti Akoi had two of Wayne States six steals.
Wayne State will be at home next weekend hosting NSIC cross division games vs. the University of Mary Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Minot State Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
