Nebraska-Kearney shot 59 percent in the second half and outscored Wayne State 40-25 to rally for a 77-64 win over the Wildcats Wednesday evening at Kearney High School.
The Wildcats were the hot shooting team in the first half and held the lead for nearly the entire half, making 15 of 26 shots and leading by as many as 11 before UNK cut the lead to 39-37 at intermission.
Wayne State built a 17-11 lead five minutes into the contest following a 3-pointer from Al’Tavius Jackson. The Wildcats took their first double digit lead of the night on a Henry Penner three-point play at the 10:04 mark for a 27-16 advantage.
Wayne State still held a nine point lead at 32-23 with 5:48 to play in the half, but UNK scored nine straight points to knot the score at 32-32 and took a short lived lead at 35-33 before the Wildcats used a Jordan Janssen jumper with :23 left to take a 39-37 lead at intermission.
Nebraska-Kearney opened the second half with a 12-2 run and held a double digit lead for most of the second half to rally past the Wildcats. The Lopers’ 12-2 run to start the second half gave UNK a 49-41 lead. UNK’s biggest lead of the night was 13 points on several occasions.
Wayne State got as close as seven points at 67-60 with 4:47 to play. But after shooting 57 percent in the opening half, the Wildcats could only make six baskets in the second half, going 6-for-22 as the Lopers rallied for the win.
Nick Ferrarini scored a game-high 21 points on 7 of 11 shooting to lead Wayne State. Janssen also hit double digits with 18 points. Nebraska-Kearney held a narrow 29-27 edge in rebounding over WSC despite nine boards from Janssen.
Wayne State (5-9) will close out their four-game road trip Saturday with an NSIC South Division contest at Augustana University starting at 5:30 p.m.
