Led by 29 points from Matt Thomas, the Wayne State men’s basketball team earned its first win of the season on Nov. 20 over Iowa Wesleyan, 99-85.

The visiting Tigers looked to be the better team early in the contest, until WSC reeled off an 8-0 run to take the lead. The Wildcats pulled ahead to as many as seven on a couple of different occasions. Iowa Wesleyan took the momentum back, and rallied to come within 41-39 at half time.

The Tigers used that momentum in the second half to score the first four points of the half, giving them a two point lead. Coach Brian Dolan received a technical foul which sparked the Wildcats into an 11-0 run, giving them a 52-43 lead. The Wildcats never looked back, winning 99-85.

WSC had five double digit scorers in the contest led by Thomas with 29. Sophomores Brian Goodwin and JJ Zumbrennen had 14 and 13 points, respectively. Austin Esters added 12 and Joel Heesch finished with 11.

WSC used hot shooting from behind the arc to stay close with top-ranked Augustana in the first half of their Nov. 23 game at Rice auditorium.

Sophomore Jordon Cornelius hit a pair of 3-pointers to open the game for WSC, giving them a 6-3 advantage. The visiting Vikings responded by taking a 12-point lead midway through the first half. WSC then added threes by Cornelius and Thomas to get within 25-18.

Augie pushed its lead back up to 12, but Heesch and Thomas scored the next five points for the Wildcats cutting into the Viking lead.

WSC came out sluggish in the second half, letting the Viking team go on an 18-2 run, which proved to be too much for the Wildcats. Augie never looked back and won 94-69.

Heesch led the way with 16, followed by Cornelius with 12. The Wildcats shot a season best 21 of 23 from the foul line, but had 21 turnovers.

A second-half comeback fell just short for the Wildcats on Saturday night in Liberty, Mo., where they lost 90-87 to William Jewell.

WSC led for much of the first half of the game, but a late surge by William Jewell to end the half gave the hosts the upper hand. The Cardinals led 43-34 at the break.

The Wildcats rallied on six different occasions, coming within two of the Cardinals, but were never able to tie or take the lead. WSC had to start fouling with under a minute to play, hoping William Jewell would miss free throws. Unfortunately for the Cats, they did not. Thomas hit a three in the final seconds to make the final score 90-87.

WSC returns to action tonight visiting Div. I South Dakota State in an exhibition game starting at 7 p.m.