The Wayne State men's basketball team lost a hearbreaker at Augustana on Saturday, dropping a 74-72 to take a 5-10 record (2-4 NSIC) into the holiday break.
Augustana jumped out to a large lead early on, starting the game on a 20-7 run. The Vikings held onto a lead of eight or more for a good portion of the first half, but the 'Cats ended the half on a 14-7 run to go into the second half trailing by just three points at 35-32.
In the second half, Wayne State took a 36-35 lead in the first three minutes of the period on a pair of Henry Penner free throws and a Nick Ferrarini jumper. After an Augustana three pointer, the Wildcats went on a 10-1 run to take their largest lead of the game at 46-39 with 16:13 remaining in the game.
The Vikings stormed back to tie the game back up at the 10:32 mark at 55-55. Over the final 10 minutes, there were five lead changes as each team kept the game within five points. The Vikings narrowly escaped as a Nate Mohr jumper went wide into an offensive rebound by Ferrarini, but Ferrarini's fadeaway desperation attempt in the final seconds missed.
Mohr led the Wildcats in points with 17 on the game while contributing seven assists to the cause. Jordan Janssen and Ferrarini contributed 16 points each. Penner added 13 of his own on 5-of-6 shooting with a 3-for-4 performance from behind the arc.
The Wayne State men return to action on Jan. 3-4 when they host Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State.
