WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State men's basketball team scored its most points since 2011 in a 96-78 victory over St. Cloud State Friday night in front of 1,171 fans in McCown Gymnasium.
WSU's 96 points marks the most points scored in a game since the Warriors beat Minot State 98-76 on November 19, 2011.
The Warriors were hot right away, hitting their first six shots from the floor and continued it throughout en route to its best shooting performance of the season at 60.3 percent (38-of-63).
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Mark Blacklock and Kyle Bauman staked WSU to a quick 10-2, but the Huskies battled back and hung with the Warriors, briefly taking one possession leads before a Corey Jeffs 3-pointer sparked an 8-0 run, as a jumper and 3-pointer from Riley Bambenek made it 30-23 Warriors at the 8:22 mark of the first half. 3-pointers from Gray and Blacklock later in the first half helped keep the lead at seven points but the Huskies fought back to tie it at 44-44 at the half.
A 9-3 run early in the second half had SCSU up 53-49, but it's the last time the Huskies would lead as WSU dominated the next seven minutes with an impressive 21-4 run to open up a 70-57 lead and St. Cloud State would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way as WSU cruised to the 96-78 win.
Isaiah Gray led the Warriors with 21 points on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting, hitting 2-of-3 shots from 3-point range along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Bambenek scored 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers, five rebounds and four assists, and Kyle Bauman scored 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting with six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Blacklock finished just shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine boards.
Freshman Connor Flack provided a strong spark off the bench, contributing three 3-pointers and five assists to finish with nine points in 28 minutes of action.
The Warriors outrebounded the Huskies 35-24, while each team committed just nine turnovers.
Winona State (11-10, 10-7 NSIC) returns to McCown Gym Saturday to take on Minnesota Duluth at 6 p.m.
