ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Winona State men's basketball team was unable to capitalize on the momentum of its first road victory – and perhaps biggest win – of the season against Minnesota State on Friday, falling to Concordia-St. Paul 74-63 in front of 680 fans in the Gangelhoff Center Saturday in St. Paul.
Isaiah Gray led the Warriors with 15 points, four assists and two steals while playing all 40 minutes. Kyle Bauman on the heels of a career-high 21-point performance the night prior, scored 11 points while dishing out three assists and grabbing five rebounds. Junior Conrad Masberg turned in a gritty performance, scoring 10 points and snagging a team-best seven rebounds.
Gray scored first for the Warriors, but the Golden Bears got out of the gates hot, draining their first three 3-pointers to take a quick 9-2 advantage less than three minutes in. Bauman was again a spark for the Warriors, creating a spurt with a patented mid-range jumper followed by a 3-point play midway through the half that brought the Warriors to within three at 16-13. Riley Bambenek then scored to extend the run to 7-0 and after another jumper from Bauman followed by a drive to the basket from Gray that drew a foul along with the basket, the Warriors had taken a 19-18 lead with under six minutes to play in the half.
Tim Wagner hit a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a four-point lead at 24-20, but Concordia answered with a 7-0 run to go back up by three with under two minutes to play. Wagner would hit another 3-pointer to bring it to within one, but a pair of Golden Bear free throws made it a 32-29 halftime score.
Despite the three-point deficit, the Warriors outshot the Golden Bears 46.4 percent (13-of-28) to 34.3 percent (12-of-35) in the opening period. Bauman led WSU with seven points at the break, while Gray and Wagner each had six.
The Warriors found themselves down eight early in the second half, but Wagner hit his third 3-pointer of the game to make it 41-36 CU with 14:26 to play. Concordia pushed the lead to double digits on a trio of occasions, but the Warriors were able to get it back to single digits each time, the last of which was a Bamenek jumper with 10:41 to play to make it an eight-point deficit at 50-42.
Mark Blacklock converted a 3-point play at the 8:44 mark to cut the deficit to five points at 53-48 and after a Bauman layup and a Gray layup it was all of a sudden a one-point, 53-52 game with 6:56 left and a 9-0 run for the Warriors. The Warriors were unable to complete the comeback, as Concordia senior Cole Olstad ended the run with a 3-pointer and the Golden Bears led the rest of the way to the 74-63 final.
Winona State (12-12, 9-11 NSIC) returns home to McCown Gym next weekend to close the regular season with a pair of matchups against Wayne State on Friday and the finale against No. 2 Augustana on Saturday.
