FAYETTE, Iowa – The Winona State men's basketball team fell to Upper Iowa 79-74 in the NSIC opener Saturday evening in Fayette, Iowa.
The Warriors stormed out to a 10-0 lead on five points from Riley Bambenek and led 14-3 after an Isaiah Gray layup, but the lead wouldn't last long as a dry spell from the Warriors helped Upper Iowa take a 24-20 lead with 5:13 to play in the first half. Conrad Masberg stopped an 8-0 run with a layup to bring it to a one possession game and it would stay a one-score game for the remainder of the half. A 3-pointer from freshman Tommy Gathje gave WSU back the lead at 28-26 and WSU took the lead on another pair of occasions but Upper Iowa scored a free throw with one second left to send the Peacocks to the locker room with a one point lead, 33-34.
Upper Iowa held a very narrow advantage in field goal percentage in the first half, shooting 42.3 percent compared to WSU's 4t3.8. The Peacocks also held a 21-14 edge in rebounds.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair where neither team gained more than a five-point lead throughout the remainder of the game. The Peacocks scored the frist five points of the half to take a 38-33 lead, but WSU answered with an 8-0 run thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Josh Mongan and Bambenek to take a 41-38 lead.
A Corey Jeffs 3-pointer with just under 13 minutes to play put the Warriors up four at 52-48, and a few minutes later Mark Blacklock converted a layup to give WSU a five-point cushion at 59-54, but Upper Iowa answered with a 7-2 run to tie the game at 61-61. Blacklock soon after would tie it again at 63-63, but a 3-pointer from UIU's Luke Lenhart put the Peacocks up by three with 5:46 to play and would hold on to the slim lead for the remainder of the game.
Four Warriors scored in double figures, with Blacklock finishing with a game-high 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting with a team-high six rebounds. Mongan added three 3-pointers to finish with 11 points, as did freshman Tommy Gathje, who added a pair of triples. Bambenek added 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
The Warriors were haunted by poor free throw shooting, as WSU hit just 6-of-16 shots (37.5 percent) from the charity stripe while Upper Iowa hit 22-of-33 (66.7 percent).
WSU finished the game shooting slightly better from the field at 49.2 percent, while Upper Iowa was at an even 49 percent.
Winona State (1-4, 0-1 NSIC) returns to McCown Gymnasium Friday and Saturday evening when it plays its NSIC home openers against Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls.
