Wayne State 75 York College 64
Wayne State College used a 12-0 scoring run midway through the second half to break open a tight game and pull away for a 75-64 non-conference men's college basketball win over York College Tuesday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The win moves Wayne State to 3-0 on the season, marking the first time since 1977-78 that the Wildcats have started a men's basketball season 3-0, while York College falls to 4-5 overall.
The visiting Panthers jumped out to a quick lead on Wayne State, leading 7-0 with 16:44 left in the first half forcing the Wildcats to take an early timeout. The Wildcats responded out of the timeout, scoring the next 10 points over the next 3:32 and took a 10-7 lead on a Vontrell Seroyer layup with 13:12 to go in the half.
Wayne State built a pair of six point leads in the first half, 23-17 and 28-22, but York reeled off six straight points near the end of the half to knot the score at 28-28 and WSC used a pair of Amry Shelby free throws with 13 seconds to go in the half to give the Wildcats a 30-28 lead at intermission.
The two teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second half until WSC used a 12-0 scoring run to take control of the game. With the score tied at 37-37 with 14:50 remaining, Wayne State reeled of 12 straight points over the next 3:44, highlighted by eight straight points from Jason Jensen on a layup and back-to-back three pointers, to take a 49-37 lead over the Panthers with 11:06 to play. The Wildcats maintained a double digit lead for a majority of the game, taking their biggest lead at 15 points, 70-55 with 2:50 remaining, following a pair of Jensen free throws. York got as close as eight points with 1:13 to play on a Dylan Brewer basket and Wayne State went on to the 75-64 win.
Jason Jensen led five players in double figures for Wayne State with a game-high 17 points. Senior center Ben Tasa added a career-high 14 points while Derrell Williams, Amry Shelby and Vontrell Seroyer each accounted for 10 points. The Wildcats shot 26 of 56 from the field for 46.4 percent, making 6 of 20 three point shots and 17 of 29 (58.6%) from the free throw line.
For York College, Gary Matthews Jr. poured in 14 points. Dylan Brewer added 11 with Corey Standerfer and Dedrick Dews scoring 10 apiece. The Panthers made 25 of 52 shots for 48.1 percent, hitting 7 of 18 behind the three point line and 7 of 9 at the free throw stripe.
Wayne State won the rebounding battle over York 38-28 thanks to a career-high 12 caroms by 6-1 junior guard Elijah Miller. Ben Tasa added eight boards for the Wildcats while York's top rebounder was Standerfer with seven. WSC had just 11 turnovers in the game to 17 for York College.
Wayne State will be at home again Sunday afternoon for their final non-conference game hosting Dakota State in a 4:00 p.m. contest at Rice Auditorium.
