WAYNE, Neb. - Wayne State College defeated the University of Minnesota Crookston 62-53 Friday, January 5 to open the 2024 slate at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, Neb. Minnesota Crookston cut the Wildcat lead to four with 3:30 remaining, but would be unable to come up with the crucial shots down the stretch as Wayne State picked up the victory. Wayne State narrowly outscored Minnesota Crookston 26-25 after leading by eight at the break. 

Minnesota Crookston dropped to 4-9 (1-6 NSIC) with Friday's loss. Wayne State improved to 9-6 (2-6 NSIC) with the victory. 

The Golden Eagles were 18-of-47 from the field for 38.3 percent. They shot 6-of-16 for 37.5 percent from beyond the arc, and a 84.6 percent clip from the stripe. They were outrebounded 32-27, and committed 14 turnovers to their 11 assists. 

Minnesota Crookston was guided by Reid Grant (Jr., G, Johnston, Iowa) with 16 points and six assists. Blaize Sagna (R-Jr., G, London, England) had 16 points. Jordan Mitchell (R-Jr., F/C, Columbus, Ohio) added eight points and six boards. Peter Fuchs (R-Fr., G, Wausau, Wis.) came off the bench for seven.

Wayne State shot 24-of-54 for 44.4 percent. They went 7-of-23 for 30.4 percent from distance, and 7-of-10 for 70.0 percent from the foul line.

The Wildcats had 10 assists to 12 turnovers. They were guided by 15 points and six assists from Alex Millender. Trey Deveaux added nine points. Cody McCullough, and Elijah Watson each had eight. 

The Wildcats jumped out to a 7-2 advantage as Millender found McCullough for a pair at the hoop. A pair of free throws from Deveaux pushed the Wayne State lead to 9-2. A Saunders jumper widened the gap to 11-3. Minnesota Crookston was able to slice the lead to 11-5 as Grant scored on a Mitchell helper. Grant contributed five-straight points as the U of M Crookston pulled within 13-8 with just over 15 minutes left in the first. Grant continued to be the hot hand with a trey to make it eight-straight points to trim the lead to 13-11. Millender came back with a trey on the other end to push the Wildcat advantage to 16-11. Minnesota Crookston trimmed the lead to 18-15 when De'Antray Hughes (Sr., F/C, New Orleands, La.) found Hoverson at the basket for a pair. 

The Wildcats extended the lead to six with a David Harmon triple. Mitchell drove to the basket and brought Minnesota Crookston within four (21-17). Wayne State responded with a 5-0 run as a Millender triple made it 26-17 with seven minutes remaining in the opening stanza. Minnesota Crookston pulled within 28-21 on a pair of Mario Adams (Fr., G/F, Rosemount, Minn.) free throws. However, Sean Strokes responded with a three-pointer to push the lead to 31-21 with 4:30 left in the half. Sagna had the answer on the opposite end to bring it back down to seven points. Grant scored a pair to bring it down to five points, but McCullough came back with an old-fashioned three-point play to push the lead out to eight points. A J.J. Ferrin jumper in the lane gave the Wildcats a 36-26 lead going into the final minute of the first half. Mitchell hit a pair from the stripe to slice the lead to 36-28 with 27 seconds remaining in the frame. The tally would remain 36-28 in favor of Wayne State going into the break. 

The Wildcats opened the second half on a 4-0 run as a Deveaux basket pushed the lead to 40-28 with 18:02 remaining in the game. The deficit remained at 12 (44-32) as Grant fed Mitchell in the post for a pair with 15:28 remaining. Fuchs came through with a big triple as Minnesota Crookston pulled within nine points (44-35). They pushed their run to 7-0 with a Hughes dunk as the U of M Crookston took the deficit down to seven points. Wayne State countered with a 5-0 run as a Noah Erickson three-pointer extended the lead to 12 (49-37). The Wildcats widened their lead to 54-39 on a Watson hook shot. Minnesota Crookston fought back with a Sagna old-fashioned three-point play to cut the WSC lead to 54-42 with 10:43 left in the game. With the shot clock winding down, Grant nailed a triple to get the Wildcat lead back down to single digits (54-45). Watson scored a pair from the stripe to push the lead out to 56-45 with 8:36 left in the tilt. Sagna countered with a triple to bring the deficit to 56-48 with 7:30 remaining in the NSIC contest. After several defensive stops, Sagna was fouled shooting a triple and he drained 2-of-3 to cut the Wildcat lead to 57-50 with 4:51 left in the tilt. After a Wayne State turnover, Grant sank a trey to bring Minnesota Crookston within four (57-53) with 3:30 left. Millender countered with back-to-back baskets to extend the lead to eight with under a minute left. Wayne State won the game 62-53. 

Minnesota Crookston heads to Sioux Falls, S.D., to face Augustana University Saturday, January 6 at 3:30 p.m.