DULUTH, Minn. – The Winona State men's basketball team saw its season come to an early end Wednesday evening, falling to Minnesota Duluth 67-64 in the opening round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament in Duluth.
The Warriors had an opportunity to extend the game, with Mark Blacklock hoisting up a contested 3-point shot with two seconds to play, but it wouldn't go and UMD grabbed the rebound as time expired to advance the Bulldogs to Sioux Falls for the quarterfinals.
Riley Bambenek – who saw limited minutes in the previous four games – bounced back with a solid performance, leading WSU with 14 points while playing 30 minutes. The sophomore made 5-of-10 shots from the field including 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
The Warriors got out to a decent start, as a Corey Jeffs jumper was the first score of the game and WSU never trailed in the opening minutes of the game while building a five-point lead after an Isaiah Gray layup with 11:54 to play.
That would turn out to be the largest lead of the game for WSU, as UMD went on an ensuing 9-0 run to take a 16-12 lead with 7:52 to play. A Bambenek 3-pointer cut it to 18-17, but another 7-0 Bulldog spurt made it 25-17 with 2:46 to play. Bambenek then hit another 3-point shot, but WSU would only score one more time en route to a 29-22 halftime deficit and its lowest-scoring first-half output of the season.
WSU shot just 31 percent in the first half as Bambenek led WSU with six points.
Winona State performed much better in the second half, outscoring the Bulldogs 42-38 and shooting 53.3 percent (16-of-30) in the period, and the Warriors took brief leads but were unable to put UMD away.
WSU started the half on a 7-2 run capped off by a Conrad Masberg 3-pointer to pull to within 31-29. After UMD quickly got the lead back up to six, the Warriors went on another 9-2 run as a Bambenek jumper gave the Warriors a 41-40 lead with 14:17 to play. The two squads would trade leads throughout the following five minutes, but by the six minute mark the Bulldogs had built back up a seven point lead with a Taylor Lavery 3-pointer.
The Warriors again countered with a 6-0 run as a Bambenek jumper made it 54-53 UMD with 4:25 left. WSU would cut the lead to one on multiple occasions leading up to the final buzzer, but would never get back out in front as the Bulldogs claimed the narrow 67-64 victory.
Joining Bambenek were three other Warriors in double figures, as Mark Blacklock finished with 12 points and six rebounds, Isaiah Gray added 11 points, five rebounds and four assists and Masberg contributed 10 points.
Winona State finishes its 2014-15 campaign with a 14-13 record, the program's 12th straight winning season.
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