Concordia-St. Paul shot 55 percent from the field as the Golden Bears avenged a loss to Wayne State from three weeks ago with a 93-89 overtime victory over the Wildcats Friday evening in Northern Sun Conference mens basketball at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. WSC drops to 10-18 and 7-12 in the NSIC South while CSP is now 8-15 and 6-13 in league play.
Similar to the first meeting three weeks ago in St. Paul where neither team led by more than five points, Fridays game saw neither team hold a lead bigger than six points while changing the lead 12 times with nine ties.
Wayne State took their biggest lead of the game at the 6:18 mark of the first half, 23-18, following a Ben Dentlinger basket.
The Wildcats led again by five at 31-26 with 2:07 to play in the first half before finishing with a 34-32 lead at halftime.
After WSC opened the first half with a basket for a 36-32 lead, Concordia-St. Paul scored eight straight points and grabbed a 40-36 lead.
The Golden Bears held the lead for much of the second half.
WSC enjoyed a short-lived lead of 55-54 at the 11:01 mark following a Henry Penner 3-pointer.
Concordia-St. Paul rallied and built their biggest lead of the night at 65-59 with 7:23 to play.
The Golden Bears still held a 75-69 lead with 2:24 remaining when WSC rallied and actually took a 79-77 lead on a AlTavius Jackson layup with 51 seconds to play.
On the next possession, Concordia-St. Pauls Cody Carlson tied the score with a jumper at 79-79.
Wayne State had a chance to go in front but had a shot clock violation and Concordia-St. Pauls shot to win the game in the final six seconds was too strong sending the game into overtime tied at 79-79.
The Wildcats held the lead early in the extra session and was in front 86-83 following a Dentlinger dunk when the Golden Bears took control of the game scoring six straight points for an 89-86 lead.
WSC got as close as one at 89-88 with six seconds left but CSP made three of four free throws late to seal the 93-89 overtime win.
Jackson paced Wayne State in scoring with a career-high 22 points on 9 of 16 shooting. Ferrarini also scored 22 points for the Cats. Jordan Janssen accounted for his 14th double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds while Dentlinger and Nate Mohr each scored 10 points.
Wayne State was 33 of 74 shooting for 44.6 percent, going 9 of 22 behind the arc. The Cats were 14-19 at the foul stripe.
Lee Higgins scored a game-high 25 points for Concordia-St. Paul. Cody Carlson added 18 with Jordan Coblin scoring 17. Max Keefe and Jacob Shields also scored double digits with 14 and 11 respectively.
Concordia-St. Paul made 32 of 58 shots for 55.2 percent, including 8 of 19 from the 3-point line. The Golden Bears were 21 of 27 at the charity stripe.
Both teams had 36 rebounds in the game with Janssen grabbing a game-high 13 caroms. He also handed out five assists and had three blocked shots.
Wayne State will be at home Saturday hosting Minnesota State at 5:30 p.m.
After rallying from a nine-point deficit with under six minutes to play to take a one point lead, Concordia-St. Paul used a late steal and basket to hand Wayne State College a heartbreaking 81-80 loss in Northern Sun Conference womens basketball played Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. WSC drops to 16-9 and 11-8 in the league while Concordia-St. Paul improves to 13-12 and 10-9 in the NSIC South Division.
Wayne State junior forward Erin Norling scored 11 of Wayne States 16 first quarter points as the Wildcat started the game shooting 50 percent from the field (6-12) and held a 16-15 lead after 10 minutes of play.
Concordia-St. Paul had the hot shooting hand in the second quarter, making 9 of 15 shots for 60 percent, and the Golden Bears outscored WSC 20-15 in the quarter to take a 35-31 lead at intermission.
Both teams blistered the nets in the third quarter as the Wildcats scored 30 points on 10-13 shooting (76.9%) while CSP produced 29 points on 9-15 shooting (60%) giving the Golden Bears a 64-61 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Concordia-St. Paul pushed the lead to nine points in the fourth quarter (72-63) when the Wildcats made a comeback.
WSC was still down 76-71 with 2:56 to play, but got baskets from Brittany Bongartz and Halley Busse to cut the lead to one at 76-75. After CSP got a basket with 1:37 to play to go in front 78-75, WSC used a Busse 3-pointer and a basket by Norling with 40 seconds to play giving the Wildcats an 80-78 lead.
CSP made one of two free throws with 27 seconds to play cutting the Wildcat advantage to 80-79, but the Golden Bears got a steal and layup by Danielle Schaub to take a 81-80 led with 10 seconds left.
WSC had one last chance to win the game and a shot by Norling left of the basket bounced off the back of the rim as Concordia-St. Paul held on for the 81-80 win.
Norling led Wayne State in scoring with 22 points followed by Busse with 20. Bongartz recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds while Autumn Mlinar finished with a career-high 12 points on 4 of 4 shooting from the 3-point line.
WSC finished the game making 29 of 59 shots for 49.2 percent, going 10 for 17 from the 3-point line. WSC was 12-17 at the free throw stripe.
Sidney Wentland and Riley Wheatcraft each scored 20 points for Concordia-St. Paul while Schaub finished with 12 points.
CSP was 28 of 61 from the field (45.9%), including 8 of 20 from the 3-point line. The Golden Bears were 17-20 from the charity stripe.
WSC won the rebounding battle over CSP 36-29 thanks to 11 caroms from Bongartz and seven by Norling.
Busse tied her career-high with nine assists while Norling finished with three blocks.
The Wildcats will be at home again Saturday hosting Minnesota State on Senior Day at 3:30 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.
