SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Winona State men's basketball team gave fourth-ranked Augustana all it could handle for 30 minutes before falling 83-62 in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament semifinals Monday evening in front of a largely hometown Viking crowd at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
A pair of Charlie Koontz free throws put the Warriors out front 50-45 with 12:39 to play in the second half, but things went south for WSU after that as a 14-0 run in a span of just just over three minutes put the Vikings up 59-50. This countered a tremendous 15-2 run from the Warriors as a Kyle Bauman jumper gave WSU its first lead at 46-45 and a second one put WSU up 48-45. WSU made it a string of six straight possessions with baskets to run the lead to 50-45 before Augie's counter.
After Augie's 10-point lead, the Warriors tried to battle back, as a 3-pointer from Jeffs and a Kontz jumper brought WSU back to 61-56, but another 10-2 run from the Vikings stretched the lead to 71-58 before extending it to as much as 23 points at 83-60 before settling for the 83-62 win.
Bauman led the Warriors with 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting, while Connor Flack added nine points.
Both teams struggled early on, as WSU missed its first six shots and each squad was just 3-of-9 from the field, but the Warriors found a groove, scoring on three straight possessions to tie it at 6-6. Senior Nick Arenz hit a 3-point basket to put WSU up 9-8 and back-to-back 3-pointers from Bauman and Josh Mongan had the Warriors trailing by just 22-19 midway through the half.
The Vikings had a 33-26 lead late in the first half, but a layup by Isaiah Gray brought the Warriors to within three and WSU trailed by just four points at the break, 34-30.
Senior Conrad Masberg and Jeffs hit threes early in the second half to bring WSU to within one to help the Warriors in their big run of the game before the game slipped away.
Winona State finishes its season with a 16-13 record, the program's 13th straight winning season.
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