Wayne State 76 Morningside 74

            Wayne State College built a 19 point first half lead and then held off a second half Morningside rally as the Wildcats edged the Mustangs 76-74 Tuesday evening in non-conference men's basketball played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, Nebraska.  The Wildcats won their season opener moving to 1-0 on the season while Morningside falls to 2-4 on the young season.

            The Wildcats got off to a quick start, taking a 15-4 lead with 15:15 to play in the first half following a steal and dunk by Wildcat sophomore forward Derell Williams.  WSC extended the lead to 27-8, its biggest lead of the night, with 8:30 to play in the half on a Williams three pointer.  The Wildcats maintained their double digit lead in the half and led 42-31 at halftime thanks to 51 percent shooting (15 of 29) in the first half.

            Wayne State maintained their double figure lead early in the second half until Morningside made their comeback against the Wildcats midway through the second half.  With WSC leading 56-46 with 9:53 remaining, the Mustangs scored the next six points and trailed 56-52 with 8:23 to play following a Garth Hamilton layup.  The Wildcats built the lead back to nine points at 64-55 on a three point play by Brad Starken with 6:11 to play.  WSC still had a nine point lead at 72-63 with 2:41 to play, but Morningside kept coming back and used a three pointer by Kevin Zoz with 55 seconds to play to pull within five points at 74-69.  Wayne State's Amry Shelby hit one of two free throws with 45 second remaining, giving the 'Cats a 75-69 advantage. 

            Morningside's Danny Rudeen hit a jumper to make the score 75-71 with 21 seconds left.  Wayne State's Jason Jensen canned one of two free throws to put the 'Cats in front 76-71 and Zoz hit a long three pointer from the left side with four seconds to play cutting the Wildcat lead to two points at 76-74.  After WSC threw the ball away on the inbouds, Morningside got to play the ball in full length of the court, but Shelby stole the pass by Morningside's Bryan Borchers to preserve Wayne State's 76-74 win.

            Shelby, a sophomore guard from Marion, Iowa, led WSC with a career-high 26 points, hitting 8 of 14 shots from the field and 7 of 8 at the free throw stripe.  His previous career-high was 22 points set twice last season.  Derell Williams, a 6-5 sophomore forward transfer from Wayne County Community College in Michigan, accounted for 20 points in his Wildcat debut, hitting 9 of 12 shots from the field to go with 11 rebounds.  Brad Starken also reached double figures with 16 points for WSC.

            The Wildcats shot 25 of 54 from the field for 46.3 percent, canning 6 of 17 from the three point line along with 20 of 29 at the free throw stripe.  WSC had 10 turnovers in the contest and 13 assists with Jason Jensen handing out five for the Wildcats.

            For Morningside College, Trent Miller scored 15 points and handed out 10 assists.  Garth Hamilton added 14 points followed by Cory Gaston with 12 and Danny Rudeen with 10.  The Mustangs shot 27 of 62 from the floor for 43.5 percent, making 5 of 20 three pointers and 15 of 22 at the free throw line.  Morningside out-rebounded WSC 38-32 thanks to seven boards by Mitchell Schultze while Williams hauled in a game-high 11 boards for WSC.

            Wayne State will be at home again Thursday evening hosting in-state rival Nebraska-Kearney in a 7:00 p.m. game at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.