The Wayne State men’s basketball team played two games over the weekend, the first game was against East Central, Oklahoma. WSC went 0-2 over the weekend but competed hard in each game.

WSC fell to 0-4 over the season with an 89-76 loss on Friday evening at the Bison Crossover Men’s Basketball Challenge in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

“I think we have played really well at times,” freshman Nate Mohr said. “Then at other times not so good so it’s been very up and down each game so far.”

In the first game of the weekend, Wayne State never led in the contest but kept it close in the first half, cutting the lead to two at 21-19 with 9:42 to go left in the first half. But, East Central went on a12-2 run at the end of the first half with the score 43-34.

East Central built a lead in the second half all the way up to a 17-point lead but WSC would not be denied and made one last charge late in the game. WSC got within four points at 66-62 but the Tigers responded with an 8-0 run and pushed the lead back up to 12 with about six minutes left.

The Wildcats shot 44.3 percent from the field compared to East Central, who shot 49.2 percent from the field but went just 3-10 from the 3-point line.

Wayne State was led by Jordan Janssen with 18 points and 13 rebounds while Al’Tavius Jackson ended up with 18 points as well. Nick Ferrarini also ended up with double digit points with 13.

Wayne State was out-rebounded in the contest 40-29 but both teams each had 13 turnovers. Janssen handed out six assists and also had three steals in the loss.

In the second game of the Bison Crossover, WSC battled Oklahoma Baptist but fell to a hot shooting team who made 13 3-pointers.

WSC guard Nate Mohr led the team with 15 points followed by Janssen and Jackson who each scored 11 points. Wayne State shot just 35.8 percent from the field making just 19-52 shots including 5 for 16 from the 3-point range.

“Jordan Janssen has really stepped up and Nick as well has stepped up big in some games for us so far… but we need to step up defensively especially these next couple games to get us back on track,” Mohr said.

The ‘Cats held a 23-18 lead with 11:14 left in the first half until the Bison went on a 16-2 over a span of 4:49 in the game before taking a 38-31 lead at the half.

OBU had the edge over rebounding, with a commanding 41-22 edge while Henry Penner for WSC grabbed seven of them.

To start the second half, Oklahoma Baptist outscored WSC 18-3 over the next seven minutes and took a 72-52 lead and then finished the game with a 83-58 victory.

OBU shot 52.5 percent from the field making 32-62 shots and connecting on 13 of 24 3-pointers for 54.2 percent. The Bison also shot 6-7 at the charity stripe compared to WSC who shot 15 for 23 (65.2%) at the charity stripe.

Wayne State will be back in action for their home opener tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Rice Auditorium as Nebraska Christian College will be coming into town.