Wayne State grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and held a commanding 39-19 advantage in rebounding to defeat Arkansas-Monticello 69-51 Saturday afternoon at the GAC/NSIC Men's Basketball Challenge in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Wildcats improve to 2-1 with the win while the Weevils drop to 2-1 on the year.
The Wildcats never trailed in the game, jumping out to an early 5-0 advantage. After the Weevils tied the score at 5-5 and 7-7, the Wildcats scored the next seven points and went on a 15-2 run over a span of 4:17 to take control of the contest.
Andrej Radivojevic and Darshan Thomas made baskets and Landon Classen drained a 3-pointer for the seven straight points. Thomas and RJ McPartlin then each followed with four points apiece to cap the 15-2 scoring run, giving the Wildcats a 22-9 lead at the 8:40 mark.
Wayne State continued to build on its lead, thanks to 10 offensive rebounds in the first half that resulted in 12 second-chance points, and the Wildcats closed the opening half with a 37-21 cushion.
Arkansas-Monticello actually held a slight edge in shooting percentage over Wayne State in the first half (40.9-40.5 percent), but the Wildcats held a sizeable 23-8 lead in rebounding.
The Wildcats opened the second half scoring 11 of the first 13 points to grab their biggest lead of the game at 48-23 with 15:54 to play and were never threatened the rest of the game.
Eight different Wildcats scored in the second half and Wayne State held a 32-30 edge in scoring after halftime and finished with a 69-51 victory.
Wayne State finished the game making 26 of 62 shots for 41.9 percent, going 4 of 14 from the 3-point line and 13 of 14 at the free-throw stripe.
Arkansas-Monticello was 20 of 47 from the field for 42.9 percent, including 1 of 9 behind the arc and 10 of 12 at the foul line. Justice Moore had 16 points for the Weevils, with Josh Smith and Marvin Schindler each scoring 10.
The Wildcats held a 39-19 edge in rebounding thanks to 16 offensive boards, turning into a 22-6 advantage in second-chance points. Levente Tallos had four assists while Eldon Turner had two steals.
The Wildcats will be at home Monday evening hosting Hesston College of Kansas in a nonconference game in Rice Arena beginning at 6 p.m.
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Wayne State College
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