WAYNE, NEB. –  Senior forward Teathloach Pal recorded his 16^th career double-double with 21 points and 15 rebounds while sophomore guard Jack Thompson added 16 points as No. 22 University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball (6-1, 4-1 NSIC) held on late to pick up a critical 70-68 road win over Wayne State (6-5, 6-3 NSIC) at Rice Auditorium on Friday night.

For Pal, it was the second straight double-double when he scored at least 20 points. A week ago in a 74-62 win over Minnesota State, Pal, who was named All-NSIC a year ago, had 25 points and 14 rebounds. Tonight, he had 21 points by hitting 9-of-16 from the field with a season-high 15 rebounds. In the past four games, Pal has reached double digits in rebounds three times (11, 14, 15). He has also had double-digit points in six-of-seven games. As a result, he now has 30 career games in double-digits and 20 games in double-figures boards.

With the victory, USF moved into sole possession of first place of the NSIC South. USF, which faces Wayne State on Saturday at 2:30 pm in Wayne, Neb., has moved to 4-1 in South Division play. Minnesota State and Wayne State sit in second at 6-3. Upper Iowa has won four straight and is 4-3 (6-5 overall).

USF Head Coach Chris Johnson was pleased with the victory that was up in the air until the final tick.

"In the first half, I thought everything went right for us and nothing for them. In the second half, they had everything go right for them and we had some struggles. But I am pleased with the victory. We beat a really good team on the road. This team found a way to win against a tough opponent," said Johnson. "I want to note that Austin Slater had a big game and that Tess (Pal) is becoming a real force," he said.

"Tonight and this season, we have played really hard. They attacked our ball screen defense in the second half and found success and then made a lot of mid-range jumpers. But down the stretch, we found some things that worked. Overall, I felt like we had a really solid effort," added Johnson, whose team has five straight wins over WSC since a 78-64 setback to the Wildcats on Feb. 10, 2018.

The game at Rice Auditorium on Friday was a clearly tale of two halves. USF controlled the first 20 minutes by hitting 17-of-32 field goals (53.1 percent) and 5-of-10 from three to build a 40-24 advantage at halftime. The Cougars took a 12-6 lead after Pal hit a three at the 15:47 mark.  After WSC pulled within three (18-15, 10:40), the Cougars had a 10-to-2 run as Thompson's three provided USF with a 28-17 lead at the 7:26 mark. Then with 5:33 to halftime, USF led 32-19 on Slater's jumper which the squad road to a 40-24 advantage at the break.

At the turn, WSC made adjustments and turned things around. The Wildcats, which had 17 points from Nate Mohr and 12 points and nine rebounds from Jordan Janssen, hit 19-of-28 field goals, including 12-of-14 at one stretch, for 67.9 percent and outscored USF, 44-30, in the second half.

Down, 47-33 with 14:24 to play, WSC used a 14-6 run to trim the deficit to 53-47. From there, the Cougars had an eight-point lead (58-50) but momentum was clearly on WSC's side. With a 10-5 run, Mohr pulled the Wildcats within 63-60 with 3:40 to play. With 2:02 on the clock, Cody McCullough's offensive rebound and put back gave WSC a 64-63 lead which they extended to 66-63 at the 1:47 mark on a lay-up by Jay Saunders.

The Cougars had the answer as Grinde hit a critical jump shot with 1:31 to go. After USF had a defensive stop and a Pal rebound, the Cougars looked to their senior forward from Fridley, Minn., and he delivered with a jumper with 49 seconds to go. However, WSC responded as Janssen's jumper with 33 seconds left pushed the lead back in their favor. Once again, Johnson dialed up Pal, whose wraparound lay-up gave USF a 69-68 lead with 16 seconds to go. After Chase Grinde, who had nine points, two rebounds and two assists, made 1-of-2 free throws with a two seconds to play for a 70-68 lead, Janssen very nearly converted to tie the game on a full court pass but his shot came up just short.

Aside from Pal, Thompson had a big game for a second straight time with 16 points, including 4-of-7 from three-point range. He added four rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes on the floor. Thompson now has 19 double-digit games in his career. USF's Austin Slater also reached double-digits for the 14^th time in his career with 10 points while supplying five rebounds and two assists. Redshirt freshman guard Jake Kettner added nine points with two rebounds and an assist.

While USF hit 53.1 percent in the first half, the Cougars cooled off in the second half with just 10-of-27 conversions from the field for 37 percent. As a result, they finished at 45.8 percent from the field on 27-of-59 shooting. Key to the USF success was its success from three-point range. Coming in USF was last in the league in three-point percentage (23 percent) and made threes per game (3.3). But that changed against WSC. With a season-high seven threes on 18 attempts, the Cougars made 38.9 percent, which is nearly 16 percentage points higher than the average.

As per usual, USF again controlled the boards with a 37-22 advantage. The Cougars now have outrebounded its last six opponents, which has helped them to the second-best rebound margin in DII at 11.7 per game.

As for WSC, they hit 29-of-54 field goals for 53.7 percent and 6-of-13 from three for 46.2 percent. However, the Cougars held a 9-to-4 margin at the free throw line. With a 17-5 edge in offensive rebounds and an advantage from the perimeter, USF was able to hold the lead for 95 percent of game time.

USF, which had its biggest lead at 47-31 in the second half, used an advantage in second chance points (10-to-4) and points in the paint (36-to-32) to offset WSC's 14-3 margin in fast break points.