The Wayne State men’s basketball team were unable to take advantage of the friendly confines of Rice Auditorium for the final time this season, dropping a pair of games in NSIC action.
On Friday, Concordia-St. Paul shot 55 percent from the field and avenged a loss from earlier int he season with a 93-89 overtime win over the Wildcats.
Similar to the first meeting three weeks ago in St. Paul where neither team led by more than five points, Friday’s game saw neither team hold a lead bigger than six points while changing the lead 12 times with nine ties.
Wayne State took their biggest lead of the game at the 6:18 mark of the first half, 23-18, following a Ben Dentlinger basket. The Wildcats led again by five at 31-26 with 2:07 to play in the first half before finishing with a 34-32 lead at halftime.
After Wayne State opened the first half with a basket for a 36-32 lead, Concordia-St. Paul scored eight straight points and grabbed a 40-36 lead and held that lead for much of the second half, save for a 55-54 Wayne State advantage on a Henry Penner 3-pointer with 11:01 to go.
The Golden Bears held a 75-69 lead with 2:24 remaining when Wayne State rallied and took a 79-77 lead on a Al’Tavius Jackson layup with :51 to play, but Cody Carlson tied the score with a jumper on the Golden Bears’ next possession.
Wayne State had a chance to go in front, but had a shot clock violation and Concordia-St. Paul’s shot to win the game in the final six seconds was too strong, sending the game into overtime tied at 79-79.
The Wildcats held the lead early in the extra session and was in front 86-83 following a Dentlinger dunk before the Golden Bears took control of the game, scoring six straight points for an 89-86 lead. Wayne State got as close as one at 89-88 with :06 left but Concordia made three of four free throws late to seal the win.
Jackson paced Wayne State in scoring with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Ferrarini also scored 22 points. Jordan Janssen accounted for his 14th double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds (along with five assists and three blocks) while Dentlinger and Nate Mohr each scored 10 points.
On Saturday, the Wildcats shot a season-low 29.6 percent, yet took Minnesota State into overtime before dropping a 72-70 decision to fall to 10-19 overall (7-13 NSIC).
Wayne State made just 8-of-34 shots in the first half, but still managed to hold a five point lead at 19-14 with 8:19 to play in the first half before Minnesota State rallied to take a 30-23 lead at the half.
The Wildcats trailed by 11 at 47-36 with 9:12 remaining before making a comeback with an 11-0 run that was capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Jackson and Ferrarini to tie the score at 47-47 with 6:48 to play.
The game’s 11th tie came at 61-61 on a Jordan Janssen tip-in off a Nate Mohr miss to send the game into overtime.
Minnesota State scored the first seven points of overtime for a 68-61 lead with 2:42 to play, but Wayne State stormed back and answered with seven straight to tie the score at 68-68 on a Ferrarini 3-pointer with :40 left.
The Mavericks got a Corvon Seales jumper and a pair of free throws from Seales with six seconds left for a 72-68 lead. Wayne State scored in the closing seconds on a tip-in by Janssen to account for the final margin.
Janssen led Wayne State in scoring with 15 points to go with 18 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the season. Ferrarini added 13 points with Nate Mohr scoring 12. Janssen was credited with seven assists.
Wayne State closes out the regular season this weekend with matchups at Southwest Minnesota State Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. and Sioux Falls Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
