Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Wayne State University Wildcats used 21-8 run through the first 10 minutes of the night to take control of the game, then dominated the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the host Northern State University Wolves 35-20 to claim a key 73-58 win over the Wolves in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball action Friday night in NSU's Wachs Arena.

The loss breaks a 4-game win streak for the Wolves, who entered the night in sole possession of seventh place in the conference standings, but leave the court locked in a three-way tie for seventh along with WSC and Southwest Minnesota State with three games left to play in the regular season.  Only the top eight teams in the league will make the post-season tournament.

NSU now sits at 12-12 on the season and 8-9 in league games.  WSC, meanwhile, improved to 11-13 overall and 8-9 in the conference loop.  The Wildcats have now won two straight, but are just 2-4 in their last six games.

However, WSC took control of Friday's game from the start, and rode their early success to the finish.  The Wildcats had four players score in double figures, while no NSU player other than senior Mitch Boeck had more than six.  Boeck led all scorers with 29 points on 11 of 26 shooting.  The Wolves shot just 37.7 percent from the field as a team, and did not have an answer for WSC's rebounding edge.

Senior Brett Spiker and freshman Amry Shelby had 17 points apiece to lead the way for the Wildcats, while junior Jason Jensen added 15 and senior Brian Metz chipped in 11.  Spiker, who leads the league in rebounding, tallied six rebounds on both the offensive and defensive glass to finish with 12 of his team's 35 boards.

NSU, meanwhile, despite outscoring WSC 16-6 off the bench and 25-13 in points off turnovers, did not have a secondary piece to compliment Boeck's effort.  Redshirt freshman Collin Pryor had six points off the bench as NSU's second-leading scorer, while also coming up with six rebounds to lead the team in that category.  The Wolves, however, were just 3-for-20 from long range on the night.

NSU will have little time to dwell on Friday's loss as they get set to host 19th ranked Augustana College on Saturday for another key NSIC match-up.  The Vikings are coming off a 71-59 loss at the hands of the University of Mary on Friday.  Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m.