Wayne, Neb. --- Wayne State led from start to finish as the Wildcats rebounded from Friday’s shocking loss to Minot State with a convincing 72-52 win over the University of Mary in Northern Sun Conference men’s basketball Saturday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The Wildcats improve to 12-6 and 7-5 in the NSIC while UMary drops to 8-8 and 4-8 in league play.

The ‘Cats opened the game with six straight points followed by five in a row from Mary.

Wayne State turned a 13-9 lead at the 13:00 mark to a 22-11 advantage following a Nate Mohr basket with 8:14 to play in the first half.

The Marauders could only get as close as eight, 22-14, the rest of the first half as the Wildcats built a 34-22 lead at intermission.

The second half saw Wayne State maintain a double digit advantage throughout.

Wayne State’s lead was 52-39 at the midway point of the second half. The ‘Cats took their biggest lead of the night at 65-41 on a David Harmon basket and the ‘Cats cruised to the 72-52 win.

The Wildcats were led in scoring by fifth year forward Jordan Janssen with 20 points and nine rebounds. Fifth year guard Nate Mohr added 17 points with Justin Eagins scoring 12.

Wayne State made 28 of 66 shots for 42.4 percent, going 8 of 24 behind the arc. The ‘Cats were 8 for 11 at the charity stripe.

The University of Mary was led by Jeremiah Jones with 10 points.

The Marauders were held to 36 percent shooting by the Wildcats on 22 of 61 shooting. UMary was 5 for 18 from the 3-point line and just 3 of 8 at the line.

Both teams had 39 rebounds in the contest. Cody McCullough grabbed 11 boards for WSC with Janssen adding nine. Jay Saunders had eight assists while Janssen had three blocked shots.

Wayne State is at home again next weekend, hosting Bemidji State at 5:30 p.m. followed by a Saturday matchup vs. Minnesota Crookston at 3:30 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.