After going winless during winter break, the WSC men’s basketball team found themselves in an improbable and thrilling victory over Minnesota Duluth 93-85 Friday at Rice Auditorium.

The Wildcats fell short at home Saturday to St. Cloud State, 108-74.

 
The weekend split leaves the Wildcats at 4-13 overall and 2-10 in the NSIC.
A pair of career-high frontcourt performances by Adam Moon and Jordan Cornelius can be attributed to the ‘Cats’ victory Friday night against Duluth, the co-leader of the NSIC North. Moon put up 24 points and Cornelius added 22 from his forward position.

 
WSC came out prepared and took a lead as large as 23-15 in the first half. Duluth’s Brandon Pineda scored a dozen straight points for the Bulldogs as part of his game-high 35 and the Bulldogs took a 37-35 lead to the locker room.

 
The second half was about as back-and-forth as possible, with nine ties and 13 lead changes. The final lead change came with three minutes to play, when Vance Jackson hit a jumper to put WSC up 80-78.

 
Good defense and free-throw shooting down the stretch allowed the ‘Cats to pull away for their first victory in a month.

 
The Wildcats improve to 4-12 and 2-9 in league play, while UMD drops to 13-4 and 9-2 in the NSIC.

 
The ‘Cats hoped to start a winning streak Saturday at Rice Auditorium against St. Cloud State, but fell short.

 
Sophomore Matt Thomas scored the first 14 ‘Cats points, and single-handedly led the Huskies 14-13 after the first media time-out.

 
That was the last lead WSC would hold, as the Huskies shot 58 percent from the floor, including 55 percent from beyond the arc, and pulled away for the 34 point victory.

 
The ‘Cats played well offensively, but the Huskies were hitting everything in sight.

 
Gage Davis dropped 36 and Scottie Stone put up 34 to give St. Cloud State multiple 30-point scorers. Thomas led the ‘Cats with 28.

 
After dominant performances Friday, Moon and Cornelius were held in check by the Huskies, combining for just 11 points.

 
The ‘Cats went into hibernation over winter break, losing all five of their contests. But aside from a 35-point loss to second-ranked Augustana, the ‘Cats competed in their other contests, keeping them within single digits.

 
WSC will look to get back on the right side of the win-loss column on Friday when they travel to Fayette to play Upper Iowa at 8 p.m., before returning to Rice Auditorium Saturday for a 6 p.m. tip-off with Winona State.

 
There is a re-scheduled contest Tuesday against Nebraska-Kearney at 7 p.m.