November 19, 2008

#25 Morningside College 63 Wayne State 54

NAIA #25 Morningside College earned a 63-54 win over Wayne State in men's basketball on Wednesday evening in Wayne.  It was the home opener for Wayne State.  Morningside moved to 5-0 with the win while Wayne State dropped to 1-2 with the loss.

Wayne State jumped out to an early lead and had a 17-8 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half.  However, Morningside finished the half with a 23-8 run to take a 31-25 lead into halftime.  Wayne State pulled within four points at 31-27 with just over 17 minutes remaining in the second half but would get no closer as the Mustangs used solid free throw shooting down the stretch to seal the nine point win.  

Morningside hit 22 of 49 shots in the game for 44.9 percent.  Wayne State hit 22 of 60 shots on the evening for 36.7 percent.  The Mustangs held a 34-32 rebounding advantage over the 'Cats.  Jonathon Thomas had a game-high 18 points to lead Wayne State in the loss.  David Walters was the only other player in double figures for WSC with 11 points.  Brian Metz grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for Wayne State.  Morningside was led by Seth Atkins with 16 points.  Brady Helmink added 12 points and Nick Thompson had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Mustangs.

Wayne State will return to action on Monday evening when they host Nebraska-Kearney.  The game is set for 8:00 p.m. at Rice Auditorium.