Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – It was far from pretty, but when it came down to it, the Northern State University did what they had to do to put a “W” in the win column, knocking off Wayne State College 78-70 Saturday night in the Wolves' final home game of the 2010-11 slate.

The win, which avenges a 79-60 loss to the Wildcats on Dec. 10, leaves the Wolves in a tie for eighth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings, knotted up with Southwest Minnesota State.  NSU moves back above the .500 mark and now stands at 12-11 overall and 8-11 in conference play.  WSC, meanwhile, drops from eighth into tenth with the loss, having gone 2-8 in their last ten games.  The Wildcats are now 11-12 on the season and 7-12 in league action.

NSU sank 8 of 8 free throw attempts in the final minute of the game and staved off the Wildcats despite a pair of late treys from Vontrell Seroyer and Brad Starken in that stretch.  WSC had cut what was a 12-point Wolves advantage to single digits and forged two tie scores in the final eight minutes of play, but never could wrestle the lead out of NSU's grasp.

NSU senior Tom Parks drilled one of his four treys on the night at the 6:49 mark to break a 57-57 tie and put the Wolves ahead for good.  Back-to-back jumpers in the paint near the three-minute mark pushed the lead to two possessions and the Wildcats were never able to recover.  

NSU had taken a 42-35 lead into the halftime break despite a 20-point first-half effort by WSC guard Jason Jensen.  The senior drilled 5-of-6 attempts from long range in that half, but went ice cold in the second half and finished the night with 22 points.  

Brad Starken and Derell Williams added 19 and 10, respectively, for the Wildcats, but NSU countered with a trio of double-digit efforts of their own.  Junior David Lane paced the Wolves with his 20 points and six assists.  Parks added 15 and Dustin Tetzlaff returned to the double-digit club with his 11 points.  Derek Hoellein and Brett Newton both finished with nine apiece.

Both teams had one of their top scorers struggle in the points column on the night.  NSU sophomore Collin Pryor, two-time reigning NSIC Player of the Week, was hampered by foul trouble all night long and finished with six points and five rebounds before fouling out of the contest with 1:10 left to go.  WSC's Amry Shelby, who averaged 15.5 points per game heading into Saturday's action, was held scoreless.

The Wolves hit the road for the final three games of the season starting next weekend at St. Cloud State and Concordia-St. Paul, both of whom are tied for fifth in the league standings.  NSU closes out the regular season the following Saturday, Feb. 26 at the University of Mary.