Junior forward Henry Penner scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting followed by 24 points from junior forward Jordan Janssen to lead the Wayne State men’s basketball team in an 88-76 NSIC South Division win at Concordia-St. Paul Friday evening at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minn.
The Wildcats took a 17-7 lead just over five minutes into the contest following back-to-back treys from Penner, who was 6-of-9 from behind the arc. Wayne State maintained a double digit advantage for much of the first half and had a big scoring run to close the half to go in front by 22 points at one point. Concordia-St. Paul was within nine at 35-26 with 6:43 to play in the half when the Wildcats closed the half on a 15-4 run to take a 50-31 lead at intermission.
Wayne State continued to put on the pressure in the second half and rode efficient shooting while holding Concordia-St. Paul to just 38 percent shooting in the contest. Penner’s final points of the game, a 3-pointer with 10:59 remaining, gave Wayne State their biggest lead of the game at 79-50. Wildcat reserves closed out the final 10 minutes to finish off the win.
Janssen followed Penner in the scorebook with 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 8-for-10 at the charity stripe while freshman Alec Millender chipped in 15 points.
Wayne State held a slim 43-39 edge in rebounding thanks to eight boards from Ben Dentlinger. Nate Mohr and Penner each had four assists while Penner had two steals.
Wayne State (1-2) plays at Concordia-St. Paul again Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
