The WSC men’s basketball team came up short last friday against Southwest Minnesota State. The Mustangs came out ready to play early and took a 16-4 lead right away and the Wildcats could never recover from a slow start.

“I thought we were able to get into things a lot quicker earlier this year, your team is always evolving, I think our team is evolving in to a group that has confidence and can certainly compete and ultimately beat anybody that we play,” said Jeff Kaminsky, head coach.

WSC came back later in the first half to cut the deficit to within six, 25-19, following a Vance Janssen three pointer with six minutes left in the first half. After the bucket, the Mustangs went on a run of their own and extended the lead up 36-26 at halftime.

“Every game you have to play well or else you’re going to be in trouble,” said Jeff Kaminsky, head coach.

The Mustangs held a double digit lead all of the second half and never
lost it. The Wildcats were unable to get anything to go down the basket and ended making 22 of 57 shots and shot 5 of 19 behind the arc. Rebounding has been challenging all season due to being under sized in a lot of games, the Mustangs beat the Wildcats on the boards for a 38-31 rebounding advantage.

“We’re not overly big or overly athletic, that something [rebounding] I think our guys have done a great job in terms of improving,” said Kaminsky.

Junior guard Trevin Joseph led the team with 15 points for the Wildcats followed by Kendall Jacks with 13 and Jordan Cornelius with 10 points. The Mustangs had four players in double figures and shot the ball 47.5 percent from the field making 28 out of 59 shots.

With wins this weekend the Wildcats will have the opportunity to host the first round of the NSIC conference tournament at Rice Auditorium next Wednesday. The Wildcats will play Upper Iowa this Friday at 8 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa and Winona State on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Winona, Iowa.