WINONA, Minn. – Isaiah Gray scored 20 points and dished out a career-high eight assists to lead a balanced Winona State men's basketball team to an 82-63 victory over Wayne State Friday night in McCown Gym.
 
Gray – who scored a game-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line – was one of five Warriors who reached double figures scoring in a balanced Winona State effort. Kyle Bauman added 14 points with seven rebounds and four blocks, while Tim Wagner finished with 13 points, Mohamed Ali Ben Ammar added 12 points and Conrad Masberg contributed 11 points. Mark Blacklock, meanwhile, just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high nine rebounds.
 
The Warriors were very efficient from the floor, shooting just under 60 percent from the floor (59.6 percent) including a blistering 70.8 percent in the first half.
 
Ben Ammar sparked the Warriors' hot start, scoring eight of WSU's first 12 points to take a 12-9 lead with 16:11 to play. A layup from Gray later concluded a 7-2 WSU run to put the Warriors up 25-18 at the 10 minute media timeout.  Gray continued his strong play in the first half a few minutes later, slicing to the basket for another layup – his 10^th point of the half – as the Warriors built a double-digit advantage at 31-22 with 6:44 to play. The Wildcats made a small run of their own, closing to within 33-28 at the three and a half minute mark, but WSU built its lead back up yet again to 11 on a pair of Gray free throws to head into the locker room with a 41-30 lead.
 
The Warriors dominated in the paint in the opening 20 minutes, compiling a 30-16 advantage in that category.
 
The second half did not get off to a good start for the Warriors, as the Wildcats quickly erased the deficit. Wayne State had already cut the lead to one on a Kendall Jacks layup less than five minutes into the half. Jacks later hit a jumper and then a WSC free throw gave the Wildcats a 47-45 lead – the end of a 17-4 Wildcat run to start the second half.
 
The Warriors quickly ended the drought with an 11-2 run capped off by a big 3-poitner by Masberg to put WSU up 56-49 with under 10 minutes left. An Isaiah Gray layup with 7:29 left pushed the lead to 10 at 65-55 and Wagner hit a 3-point shot – just the Warriors' second of the game – to effectively put the game out of reach at 74-57 with 4:15 to play as WSU cruised to an 82-63 win.
 
Winona State (13-12, 10-11 NSIC) pushes its home record to 12-2 on the season and will play its final game in McCown Gym Saturday at 6 p.m. when it hosts No. 2 Augustana.