It was a rough weekend on the road for the Wayne State men’s basketball team, running into a pair of hot-shooting Northern Sun Conference opponents that ended the Wildcats’ four-game winning streak.
On Friday night, St. Cloud State led from start to finish, shooting almost 56 percent from the floor on their way to a 90-68 win at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud, Minn.
Wayne State got as close as two at 12-10 in the first half following a pair of Nate Mohr free throws with 12:51 to play in the half, but the Huskies scored nine unanswered points to take a 21-10 advantage and Wayne State couldn’t get closer than four after that.
St. Cloud State used a 21-4 surge over the final 5:17 of the half and took control of the game with a 44-23 lead at the half, shooting 62.5 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
Jordan Janssen led Wayne State in scoring with 16 points, his 35th consecutive game scoring in double figures. Al’Tavius Jackson followed with 13 points while Nick Ferrarini and Nate Mohr added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Ben Dentlinger paced the Wildcats with six rebounds. Mohr and Jackson each recorded four assists.
On Saturday, Minnesota Duluth sank 15 3-pointers and shot 57 percent for the game to post a 91-70 win, dropping the Wildcats to 10-17 overall and 7-11 in NSIC play.
The host Bulldogs took a 12-2 lead less than four minutes into the contest and never looked back. Wayne State cut the 10-point lead to 16-8 on a Ferrarini layup with 14:22 to play in the half, but the Bulldogs scored the next five points to push the lead back to double digits and stayed that way the rest of the game.
Jackson scored 16 points for Wayne State followed by Mohr with 14. Henry Penner scored 12 with Dentlinger adding 10. Janssen saw his streak of 35 consecutive games in double figures come to an end as he was held to eight points while grabbing 11 rebounds.
Wayne State will be at home this weekend, hosting Concordia-St. Paul Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Minnesota State Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
