WAYNE - (Courtesy: Wayne State College) Wayne State tied a season-low shooting just 35.6 percent from the field as the Wildcats fell at home to Augustana Saturday evening 65-59 in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. WSC slips to 8-5 and 2-5 in the league while Augustana improves to 5-8 and 2-5 in NSIC games.
The Wildcats held the lead for much of the opening half. Tied at 9-9, WSC used 3-pointers from Jay Saunders and Matt Noll along with a layup by Saunders to take their biggest lead of the game at 17-9 with 12:27 to play in the half.
After Augustana closed within three at 17-14, the 'Cats pushed the advantage back to eight at 22-14 following a trey by Kai Smith and a Sean Stokes basket.
Later in the half with WSC leading 26-23, the 'Cats were held scoreless the remainder of the half as Augustana scored nine straight points to grab a 32-26 lead at intermission.
The second half saw the Wildcats play from behind the rest of the game as WSC only connected on 11 of 32 shots for 34 percent and just 3 of 16 (18%) from the 3-point line.
Augustana took their biggest lead of the night at 44-34 with 15:20 to play in the game.
WSC chipped away at the Viking lead and was within four at 46-42 following a layup by Saunders with 9:56 remaining. The Vikings responded and built the lead back to nine several times.
A JJ Ferrin 3-pointer at the 3:49 mark cut the Augustana lead to 56-52, but Augustana extended the lead back to 10 at 64-54 with 51 seconds to play and closed with a 65-59 win.
Noll's 21 points on 8 of 16 shooting led Wayne State. Ferrin also hit double figures with 13.
Wayne State shot just 35.6 percent for the game making 21 of 59 shots. The 'Cats were just 7 for 30 behind the arc and 10 of 11 at the free throw line.
Tanner Te Slaa accounted for 21 points to lead Augustana followed by Tameron Ferguson with 16 and Akoi Akoi 12.
Augustana was 22 for 53 shooting for 41.5 percent, going 6 of 19 from the 3-point line and 15 for 23 at the line.
The Vikings held a commanding 45-29 edge in rebounding over the 'Cats as Noll had eight rebounds for WSC.
Jay Saunders handed out five assists while Noll recorded three blocked shots.
Wayne State resumes play following the holiday break on Friday, January 3rd with an NSIC contest at Bemidji State starting at 5:30 p.m. followed by a Saturday, January 4th game at St. Cloud State at 5:30 p.m.