Wayne State 76 University of Mary 53
The Wayne State College men's basketball team capped an impressive Northern Sun Conference road sweep Saturday night by handing the University of Mary its first home loss of the season in a 76-53 rout at the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck, North Dakota. The Wildcats shot a scorching 71.7 percent from the field, making 33 of 46 shots from the field against the Marauders. Coupled with Friday night's 73-58 win at Northern State, the Wildcats jumped two spots in the NSIC standings from ninth to seventh at 9-9 in the league and 12-13 overall while Mary dropped to 14-11 on the season and 10-8 in the NSIC.
For the second straight night, Wayne State led from start to finish and jumped out to a 6-0 early lead. With WSC holding an 8-7 lead at the 15:35 mark, the 'Cats went on an 11-0 run to take a 19-7 lead following a Brian Metz layup forcing Mary to take a timeout. The Marauders got as close as four points at 26-22, but WSC closed the half strong and used an Amry Shelby basket and a Jason Jensen three pointer to end the half with a 31-23 halftime lead.
The two teams traded baskets to start the second half and that's as close as Mary would get to the surging Wildcats. A Brian Metz three point play at the 11:05 mark put WSC ahead 47-30 and a three pointer by Brad Starken gave the 'Cats a 21 point lead at 57-36 with 7:23 remaining. The Wildcats had a pair of 25 point leads in the second half and ended the contest with a convincing 76-53 win over the Marauders, who beat WSC in Wayne earlier this season 73-62 on December 5th.
Junior guard Jason Jensen had a big night for the Wildcats scoring a game-high 25 points on 10 of 16 shooting from the field that included a perfect 5 of 5 behind the three point line. Freshman guard Amry Shelby contributed 15 points followed by Brian Metz with 13 points and seven rebounds.
The Wildcats shot a sizzling 33 of 46 from the field for 71.7 percent. WSC made 9 of 11 three point shots and was 1 for 1 at the free throw line.
For Mary, Eric Erdmann accounted for 19 points with Anthony Moody scoring 12. The Marauders were held to jus 36.5 percent shooting on 19 of 52. UM was 10 of 31 behind the three point line and 5 of 6 at the charity stripe.
WSC dominated Mary on the boards 33-13 as Brett Spiker grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Wildcats on the glass followed by Metz and Jensen with seven boards apiece.
Wayne State will conclude its three game road trip Wednesday evening traveling to Marshall, Minnesota for a Northern Sun Conference contest against Southwest Minnesota State starting at 8:00 p.m. The Wildcats enter the game in sole possession of seventh place in the NSIC at 9-9 while SMSU is tied with Northern State and Upper Iowa for ninth in the league standings at 8-10, just one game back of the Wildcats.
