Sophomore Nick Ferrarini scored a game-high 27 points while sophomore center Jordan Janssen added his 12th double-double of the year with 17 points and 12 rebounds as Wayne State College needed overtime to defeat the University of Mary 85-77 Friday evening in Northern Sun Conference mens basketball played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. WSC is now 9-15 and 6-9 in the NSIC South while UMary slips to 10-11 and 5-10 in the NSIC North.
UMary scored the first five points of the game, then Wildcat sophomore Jordan Janssen scored six straight for the Wildcats.
The Marauders final lead of the first half came at 8-6. WSC held numerous leads of four points with the biggest first half advantage at seven (27-20 and 29-22) before the Wildcats closed the first half with a 33-29 lead at intermission.
Wayne State opened the second half strong, highlighted by an 11-0 run over a span of 2:02, to take the biggest lead of the game at 50-34 with 15:04 to play.
The Wildcats still led 62-53 with 7:58 remaining when UMary made a run at WSC.
A Jaylan White basket for Mary pulled the Marauders within two at 64-62 with 5:44 to play.
Wayne State pushed the lead back to seven at 71-64 with 3:28 to go, but the Wildcats never scored again in regulation and UMarys Wyatt Carr made a basket with 36 seconds left to force overtime at 71-71.
UMary opened the overtime with a 3-pointer from White for a 74-71 lead.
The Marauders still held a 75-74 lead at the 3:09 mark when the Wildcats scored five straight points to take the lead for good.
A Janssen basket, free throw from AlTavius Jackson and two free throws from Janssen put the Wildcats ahead 79-75 with 1:20 to go in the extra session.
The Marauders got as close as two at 79-77, but WSC responded with baskets from Nate Mohr and Ferrarini and a pair of Mohr free throws with 11 seconds left to clinch the 85-77 overtime win.
Ferrarinis game-high 27 points paced Wayne State in scoring. Janssen added a 17 point and 12 rebound double-double, his 12th of the season, while Mohr also produced 15 points.
Wayne State was 32 of 65 from the field for 49.2 percent. The Cats made 8 of 18 from the 3-point line and 13 for 20 at the charity stripe.
Trever Kaiser scored 18 points for UMary with Wyatt Carr also reaching double figures with 17 points.
The Marauders made 27 of 69 shots from the floor for 39 percent, including 6 of 30 behind the arc. UMary was 17 for 23 at the foul line.
Wayne State held a slight 43-39 advantage in rebounding over UMary thanks to Janssens 12 boards with Ferrarini adding seven.
Janssen led WSC in assists with four and also had four steals while Ben Dentlinger notched two blocks.
Wayne State will play again Saturday hosting Minot State in a 5:30 p.m. NSIC contest at Rice Auditorium.
Lauren Rotunda from the University of Mary drained two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining in overtime to give the visiting Marauders an 83-81 overtime win over Wayne State College in a Northern Sun Conference womens basketball game played Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. WSC drops to 14-7 on the season and 9-6 in the NSIC South Division while UMary improves to 15-9 and 9-6 in league play with the win.
The first half was a low-scoring contest between the two clubs with the game tied 13-13 after one quarter while UMary used a 15-9 advantage in the second quarter to take a 28-22 lead at intermission.
Wayne State made just 8 of 34 shots from the field for 23.5 percent in the opening half.
The tempo of the game picked up in the third quarter as both teams improved their shooting also.
Wayne State went 4 of 7 behind the arc and 9 for 19 (47.4%) in the third quarter, holding a 26-22 scoring advantage to cut the lead to 50-48 entering the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats took their first lead of the second half on the opening basket of the fourth quarter – a 3-pointer from Erin Norling, to take a 51-50 lead.
UMary rallied and held a five point lead at 59-54 with 7:45 to play.
A Halley Busse 3-pointer and two Norling free throws tied the score shortly after at 59-59, the first of five ties in the fourth quarter.
Marys Macy Williams hit a 3-pointer for a 62-59 Marauder lead with 5:28 to play in the game and neither team led by more than two the rest of regulation.
With Mary leading, 64-62, WSC used baskets from Halley Busse and Norling to take a 66-64 lead with 1:03 to play. Marys Cassie Askvig hit a jumper with 42 seconds left to tie the score at 66-66.
Wayne State regained the lead with 3.7 seconds left on a Norling layin for a 68-66 advantage, but Askvig answered on the following inbounds for UMary and sent the game into overtime on a baseline shot with 1.1 remaining.
The Wildcats led nearly the entire overtime session, up by four two different times, and led by three at 81-78 with 33 seconds to play.
UMary used a 3-pointer from Askvig to even the score at 81-81 with 10 seconds left. WSC setup for the game-winning shot but Kylie Hammers layup was strong and Rotunda was fouled on the rebound by Norling with 1.6 seconds left. Rotunda made both free throws to give the visiting Marauders an 83-81 lead.
Norling got off a last second shot in the lane as the horn sounded but bounced out giving UMary the win.
Norling scored a game-high 28 points to lead Wayne State in scoring, going 10 of 20 from the field. Busse finished with 21 points, making five 3-pointers, while Josey Ryan also hit double figures with 11.
Wayne State shot 28 of 78 from the field for 35.9 percent, making 12 of 30 behind the arc. The Wildcats were 13 of 14 at the foul line.
Askvig led UMary with 25 points. Macy Williams poured in 19 points while Rotunda and Megan Voit also hit double figures with 15 and 11 points respectively.
UMary made 32 of 71 shots from the field for 45.1 percent. The Marauders were 9 for 25 from the 3-point line and 10 of 15 at the foul stripe.
Wayne State held a 51-41 advantage in rebounding that included 19 offensive caroms. Brittany Bongartz grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds for the Wildcats followed by Norling with seven.
Ryan handed out a season-high six assists followed by Busse with five. Norling was credited with three blocked shots while Bongartz added two, making her the sixth player in school history to record 100 career blocked shots.
The Wildcats will be at home again Saturday afternoon hosting Minot State at 3:30 p.m.
