Saturday, January 17, 2009

 

Wayne State 78 Upper Iowa 67

           Wayne State College built an 18-point second half lead, then held off a late Upper Iowa rally, to defeat the Peacocks 78-67 in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball Saturday evening in Wayne, Nebraska.  The Wildcats move back to the .500 mark overall at 8-8 and improve to 4-5 in the NSIC with the win while dropping Upper Iowa to 2-14 overall and 1-9 in league play.

            With the exception of one lead change (Upper Iowa led 10-9 with 15:18 left in the first half), Wayne State held the lead for a majority of the first half and enjoyed a 37-29 lead at halftime.  The Wildcats increased that lead to 18 points several times in the second half but the Peacocks mounted a rally following a technical foul called on head coach Brian Dolan and got as close as three points to the Wildcats before WSC pulled away down the stretch for the win.

            With WSC holding a 57-39 lead with 10:18 to play, Upper Iowa went on a 21-6 run and got within 63-60 with 4:37 left following a Dan Bestul layup.  The Wildcats then responded with a 9-2 run and took a 72-62 advantage with 2:02 to play and made free throws down the stretch to seal the 78-67 victory.

            Senior guard David Walters poured in 20 points, one shy of his career-high, thanks to five of eight shooting from the three point line, to lead Wayne State in scoring.  Senior forward Jonathon Thomas added a double-double, his fourth of the season, with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win.  Junior guard Brent Jackman also reached double digits with11 points.

            Wayne State finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field, making 27 of 54 shots.  The 'Cats were 6 of 15 from the three point line and just 18 of 30 (60 percent) at the charity stripe.

            For Upper Iowa, Nick Kramer scored 20 points followed by Dan Bestul with 16 and Keith Steffeck 12.  The Peacocks were 23 of 48 from the field for 53.5 percent, hitting 4 of 8 three point shots and 17 of 21 charity tosses.

            Wayne State held a huge edge in rebounding over Upper Iowa 34-20 with 17 rebounds coming on the offensive end for Wayne State, resulting in a commanding 23-0 advantage in second chance points over the Peacocks.  Thomas led WSC on the glass with 10 followed by Jackman with five while Nick Kramer's four boards paced UIU.

            The Wildcats will be on the road next weekend, taking on #9 Minnesota State Friday night and Southwest Minnesota State Saturday night in Northern Sun Conference action.