WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State held a one-point halftime lead but couldn't hold on, falling to No. 11 Minnesota State 79-67 Saturday evening in front of 1,365 fans in McCown Gym.

Early on it looked like the Warriors' hot 3-point shooting would carry over from Friday night, as high school teammates Riley Bambenek and Tim Wagner hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the game and give the Warriors a 6-5 lead less than two minutes into the game. The Warriors, however, would finish the game just 5-for-20 from long distance.

After a patented midrange jumper from Kyle Bauman and later a lay-in from Mohamed Ali Ben Ammar, WSU forced a Mavericks timeout up 18-13. The timeout rallied MSU, as they went on an 11-0 run to take a 24-18 lead, but the Warriors fired right back with a 10-0 run spanning 2:55 where the Warriors went 4-for-4 including six points from Corey Jeffs – who capped off the run with a 3-pointer – to take back a 28-24 lead.

The 10-0 run for the Warriors turned into an 18-2 run as the Warriors extended their lead to double digits when Isaiah Gray scored on a pretty spin move to the bucket to take a 36-26 lead, but the Mavericks went on yet another run of their own to close the half on an 11-2 spurt to cut the Warrior lead to just one, 38-37, at halftime.

The Warriors held a big 18-6 advantage in points in the paint in the first half, holding MSU big man Assem Marei to just three points.

Neither team led by more than three points for the first seven minutes of the second half until a layup by MSU's Connor Miller put the Mavericks up 53-48 with 12:20 to play. The Warriors would keep it within range, and a 3-pointer by Mark Blacklock with 8:00 to play made it just a one-possession game at 61-58, but the Warriors followed up with three straight turnovers and couldn't capitalize on their opportunities to fully erase the deficit. A Marei layup – who had 16 points in the second half – put the Mavericks up 10 at 70-60 with 3:49 to play and WSU would get no closer than nine the rest of the way as Minnesota State claimed the 79-67 victory and won in Winona for the first time since 2010.

Bambenek finished with 17 points on 8-of-18 shooting while dishing out five assists, grabbing five rebounds and picking up a steal while playing all but one minute.

Isaiah Gray added 12 points in part thanks to a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. As a team, the Warriors were 14-of-15 from the charity stripe, while the Mavericks were 11-of-21.

Blacklock added eight points and seven rebounds, while Ben Ammar also had eight points on 4-of-8 shooting and Tim Wagner had six points on a pair of 3-pointers.

Winona State (5-4, 2-3 NSIC) prepares for its final game of 2014 next Saturday when it travels to Upper Iowa to face the Peacocks for the second time this year at 6 p.m. in Fayette.