FAYETTE, Iowa – Winona State (5-4, 2-3 NSIC) held Upper Iowa (7-4, 4-1 NSIC) to just 36.5% shooting on Saturday and left Fayette, Iowa with a big 85-67 win. The Warriors got career nights from
Corey Jeffs,
Josh Mongan and
Tommy Gathje in the victory.
The Peacocks scored the first six points of the game but Winona State roared back, scoring the game's next seven points and took a 7-6 lead. The game would remain tight as the clock went under eight minutes to play in the first half.
Down two, Winona State went on a 15-2 run to take a 28-17 lead with 3:52 left in the first.
Riley Bambenek had nine points on three made threes during the run. The Warriors would take a 33-23 lead into the locker room. Bambenek finished with 11 first half points.
Upper Iowa was held to 29% shooting in the first half. Winona State was 5-13 from behind the arc in the first twenty minutes.
Corey Jeffs led all players with ten rebounds in the first half.
Josh Mongan dished out five assists in the first half.
The second half started with back-to-back threes by Bauman and Bambenek. It was the first points of the game for Bauman. Another Bambenek three put WSU up 46-26 with just over 16 minutes to go. Upper Iowa would never recover as the Warriors ran away with an 86-67 win.
It was the Peacocks first Northern Sun loss of the year. Winona State shot 68% from the field in the second half.
Tommy Gathje had a career high 14 points in the victory. Gathje finished 6-7 from the field on the night. Bambenek led all scorers with 23 points and made five three-point field goals.
For the second time this year Jeffs had a double digit rebounding game; it was also the second time a Warrior had at least ten rebounds in a game this season. Jeffs grabbed a career high 17 rebounds, all defensive on Saturday night.
Mongan tied a career high with eight assists; he also chipped in 16 points. It was the highest point total in his career.
Isaiah Gray continued his trek towards 1,000 career points after scoring 14 on Saturday. He is now just 15 points shy of hitting 1,000 in his career.
The same two teams meet up on Monday at 6 p.m. in McCown Gymnasium.
