WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State men's basketball team got big-time performances off the bench from Tim Wagner and Nick Arenz, who combined for nine 3-pointers to sink No. 2 Augustana 75-72 in front of 1,674 fired-up spectators in McCown Gymnasium.
The game went down to the wire, as Augustana had a chance to tie with time winding down. Adam Beyer had a good look at a 3-pointer that wouldn't fall, but Casey Schilling came up with an offensive rebound, who then kicked it out to Alex Richter who also missed the mark as time expired to seal the big upset.
The win snapped Augustana's 19-game winning streak and was the first win for the Warriors over a top five team since it beat three straight squads in the 2008 NCAA Tournament en route to the program's second national championship. The win also prevents the Vikings from claiming the outright NSIC Overall Championship, a distinction they will now share with MSU Moorhead.
WSU got a game-high 23 points from Isaiah Gray, who turned in eight assists for the second straight game.
But it was the bench play that made the difference, as Wagner hit 6-of-9 3-pointers in clutch situations to score a career-best 20 points and Arenz sank 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and was 4-of-5 from the field overall on his way to an 11-point performance.
The Warriors had to dig themselves out of an early hole as Gray hit a jumper to get the Warriors on the board, but quickly found themselves down 11-4 after a Schilling 3-pointer. WSU had a quick answer as back-to-back Gray layups and one from Mark Blacklock cut it to 11-10. Masberg later hit the first of 13 3-pointers from the Warriors at the 12:30 mark to make it 16-13 Vikings.
Gray also hit one from long range and then followed up with a quick drive to the basket for an and-1 that he converted to give him 12 points with 11:11 to play in the first half and give WSU its first lead at 19-18.
The 3-pointers continued to fall, as Arenz hit one as did Wagner back-to-back to open up a 25-21 lead. Gray then found Wagner on a fastbreak and after Bauman scored a layup on the following possession, the Warriors had a 10-4 run and a 29-22 lead.
Blacklock hit a 3-pointer as well to put the Warriors up 32-27, but Augie had an answer and with under two minutes to play in the half took the lead back 34-32. Gray hit another 3-pointer, however, and then Jeffs found Gray for his second 3-point play of the half with a minute left to put the Warriors up 38-34 at the half.
Gray led all scorers with 18 points at halftime – more than any Viking player had for the game – as the Warriors shot an even 50 percent (15-of-30) while Augie was a little better statistically at 52.2 percent (12-of-23).
The Warriors didn't lose any steam to open the second half, as another clutch 3-pointer – this one from Arenz – put WSU up by nine at 43-34. Wagner kept it at nine with a triple to make it 47-38 before a 7-1 Augustana run cut into the lead, but Arenz was clutch yet again, hitting his third 3-pointer followed by a jumper that got the crowd to its feet to put WSU back up 53-45 with 12:33 to play.
WSU had to weather yet another storm as an 8-2 Augustana run in a span of 2:25 cut it back to just a two point Warrior lead, but Winona State would never let them complete the comeback as another Wagner triple stopped the run and then Gray found Mohamed Ali Ben Ammar for the first of back-to-back baskets from the big man to again get it back up to seven at 62-55 with just over eight minutes to play.
Wagner continued to light it up from downtown, giving WSU its first double digit lead at the 6:44 mark before following up with one more to make it 68-55. But the Vikings had one more run left in them, this one a 12-2 spurt highlighted by a Schilling 3-pointer at the tail end to cut it to 70-67.
The Warriors wouldn't wilt under the pressure, as a layup by Blacklock and won final 3-pointer from Wagner helped keep the Warriors in front prior to Augie's final attempts as time expired.
WSU pulled off the upset despite some statistical anomalies, as the Warriors were outrebounded 37-22 and shot just six free throws compared to 28 from the Vikings. But after shooting relatively even from the field in the first half, WSU shot 54 percent while Augie shot just a touch under 40 percent.
Winona State (14-12, 11-11 NSIC) clinches its 12th straight winning season and earns the No. 5 seed in the South Division of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament. The Warriors will travel to Duluth, Minn. Wednesday to face the north No. 4 seed Minnesota Duluth in the opening round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament at 7 p.m. in Romano Gym.
