Friday morning non-conference basketball opened the 2024-25 campaign for the Wayne State College men.
From the Missouri Western State University Fieldhouse in Saint Joseph, Missouri, WSC began the Hillyard Tip Off Classic taking on Emporia State.
The Wildcats trailed by a point with 1:29 remaining. After teams traded possessions a few times, it came down to Wildcat Sean Stokes two-point jumper with four seconds remaining to earn the 67-66 victory.
WSC begins their season at 1-0 as Emporia State fell to 0-1.
Emporia State held a 35-29 lead at the half as WSC secured the 38-31 advantage in the final 20 minutes. Wayne State College earned the 67-66 win.
A trio of Wildcats finished in double-figures led by Stokes (5-9 FG/2-5 3PT) with 12 point and four rebounds; Matt Noll (4-12 FG/1-2 3PT/3-6 FT) also had 12 points, along with team-highs with seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks as well as one steal while JJ Ferrin (4-7 FG/1-4 3PT/0-3 FT) added 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Other scoring came from Ryan Blum (one assist) with nine points, Jay Saunders (four rebounds/one assist/one steal) and Kai Smith (one rebounds/one assist) both had seven points, Cody McCullough (two rebounds/two assists) tallied four points, Noah Erickson (two rebounds/one steal) tacked on three points as Nassir Binion (two rebounds/one steal) totaled two points.
WSC shot 24-55 (43.6%) from the field, 9-21 (42.9%) from behind the arc and 10-20 (50%) at the foul line.
There were six ties and seven lead changes between Wayne State College and Emporia State.
Emporia State won the rebound battle, 39-31 (12-10 offensive) accounting for 17 second chance points compared to 10 for WSC. Wayne State College scored 13 points off of eight ESU turnovers while Emporia State scored five points off of five WSC turnovers.
WSC won the battle in the point (28-20), fast break points (8-4) as both teams scored 22 points off the bench.
