WINONA, Minn. – Isaiah Gray scored a career-high 24 points and nine rebounds to lead the Winona State men's basketball team to an impressive 87-58 win over a strong Cardinal Stritch squad Saturday afternoon in McCown Gym.

Gray topped his previous career high of 19 points set in last year's matchup against the same Cardinal Stritch team. His nine rebounds also is a career-high mark, which was previously seven set just last week against UW-La Crosse. The sophomore went 8-for-9 from the field and also added four assists and two steals to his performance.

WSU turned in its first complete performance of the season, shooting 54 percent while holding the Wolves to 35 percent. The Warriors knocked down nine three pointers (41 percent) while shooting 76 percent from the charity stripe (16-of-21) and outrebounding Cardinal Stritch by a 43-26 margin.

Gray led the Warriors' strong bench play, as reserves scored 43 of the Warriors' 87 points.

The Warriors appeared to be in for a close matchup early, as the two teams were separated by three points or fewer for the majority of the first half. With a 15-11 WSU lead, the Wolves went on a mini-run to take a 17-15 lead and a Tony Smit 3-pointer gave Cardinal Stritch a 21-18 lead with 5:57 to play in the half.

A pair of free throws by Gray, a basket by Mohamed Ali Ben Ammar and a layup by Riley Bambenek sent the Warriors on a 6-0 run to retake a 24-21 lead with 3:38 to play and the Warriors would never trail again. Bambenek followed with a 3-pointer that started another run to put WSU up 33-26 at halftime after Gray beat the buzzer with a lay-in.

The Warriors wasted no time to increase the lead in the second half, as Bambenek and Tim Wagner hit back-to-back 3-pointers to increase the lead to 39-26. WSU would put the game away a few minutes later with its largest run of the game, a 14-0 spurt spanning just two and a half minutes that pushed the lead from 46-38 to 60-38 with 12:05 to play. The Warriors would use the second half as a statement, refusing to take their foot off the gas and pushing its lead to as much as 32 with just seconds to play before claiming the 87-58 victory.

The Warriors committed just three turnovers and shot 63 percent in the strong second half performance.

Bambenek added another 19 points, making seven of 10 shots from the field and knocking down two of three shots from beyond the arc while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out a pair of assists. The sophomore has been a model of consistency thus far, with two 19-point games and one 18-point game to start the season.

Conrad Masberg made it three Warriors in double figures, knocking down five of his six shots en route to 11 points and six rebounds with a pair of assists. Wagner and Corey Jeffs each had eight points with a pair of 3-pointers apiece.

Winona State (2-1) concludes nonconference play with a Tuesday matchup with Wisconsin-Superior at 8 p.m. in McCown Gym before welcoming in conference foe Upper Iowa at 6 p.m. Saturday.