ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Winona State (8-8, 5-7 NSIC) traveled to St. Cloud where they took on the St. Cloud State Huskies (13-7, 9-2 NSIC). The Huskies 21-point half time lead was too much to overcome as the Warriors fell 88-65.
Layups from Mark Hall, Gage Davis and Scottie Stone sparked the Huskies to a six-point advantage over the Warriors two minutes into the matchup.
Tommy Gathje ended the Warriors scoring drought with his three-pointer. He followed up his three-pointer with a jumper to reduce the St. Cloud State lead to one point just under four minutes into the game.
Andy Foley countered by scoring four straight points to increase their lead before Gathje's seventh straight point for Winona State brought WSU within three.
Kyle Bauman ended a two-minute scoring drought by both teams with his three pointer before four consecutive Husky points gave them a 16-10 advantage with ten minutes remaining in the half.
Davis' five points contributed prevalently as the Huskies stretched their lead with a 9-2 run three minutes later. The Warriors attempted to fight back with six consecutive points including four from
Connor Flack, before a pair of St. Cloud State free throws ended the run. The final three minutes of the half belonged to the Huskies as Davis contributed ten points to solidify their 49-28 advantage at the half.
St. Cloud led in many key areas in the opening half including free throws where they went 11-11 compared to WSU's 0-1. The Huskies also had a 5-1 advantage in steals including an 18-2 lead in points off turnovers while also having a 28-18 edge in points in the paint.
Corey Jeffs kicked off the scoring in the second half with a jumper that preceded a three-minute scoring drought, which was ended with a layup from
Riley Bambenek. Another brief scoring drought occurred a few minutes later before a three pointer from Bauman. The three was followed by a made field goal by
Mason Domask bringing the Warriors within 11 before a Davis three gave the Huskies a 66-52 lead with ten minutes remaining.
St. Cloud State put together two late runs to put the game on ice and the Huskies put the game away defeating Winona State 88-65.
Quick Hitters:
Three Warriors reached the ten-point mark; including Flack with 14, Bauman with 12, and Gathje with 11.
The Huskies had two 20-point scorers consisting of Davis' 29 and Scottie Stone's 27.
The Huskies Gage Davis led all scorers with 29 points and reached 1,000 career points for the Huskies.
Gathje had a double-double pairing his 11 points with 10 rebounds.
Bambenek led both sides in assists with nine.
St. Cloud State led in most categories including three-point percentage edging the Warriors 43.8-22.7 percent.
Free throws were a key factor in the loss as WSU went 4-7 from the charity stripe compared to 17-17 for St. Cloud State.
Winona State's bench outscored the Huskies 37-12 but lost the points of turnovers battle 24-11.
The Warriors return home to play Wayne State on the 20
th. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 P.M.
-Jake Thiede
