CROOKSTON, Minn. – The Winona State University men's basketball team won the second half battle over the University of Minnesota Crookston Friday night by producing 42 points, but it wasn't enough to erase an 18-point first half deficit as the Warriors fell to the Golden Eagles, 80-66. Sophomore Kevion Taylor scored a career-high 25 points in the setback.
Winona State's second half offensive output matched what the Golden Eagles put on the scoreboard over the first 20 minutes of Friday's tilt, however the Warriors were limited to just 24 points in the first half on 36 percent shooting from the field.
The Warriors (6-11, 3-8 NSIC) have struggled shooting the ball all season, and despite a 41 percent clip in the second half, ended the night shooting below 40 percent collectively for the eighth time this season. Minnesota Crookston (12-8, 5-6 NSIC) shot 44 percent from beyond the arc to continue on its best start in program history.
The Golden Eagles shot 46.7 percent from the field and drained 8-16 three-point attempts in the first half of action to build a comfortable 42-24 halftime advantage. The home team netted the first eight points of the contest and surged out to a 27-11 lead after knocking down six of its first 11 shots from three-point range.
A three-pointer by Tommy Gathje accounted for the Warriors' second field goal of the night five minutes after the opening tipoff, but WSU went just 4-14 from downtown in the first half as the Golden Eagles continued to pad their lead.
Winona State was able to hold one of the top scorers in the country, Harrison Cleary, to just six points in the first half, but allowed Crookston's Chase Knickerbocker to net 20 of his career-best 30 points in the first half alone.
Despite the best efforts of Taylor, who scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half, the Warriors were unable to dig out of their first half hole.
The Golden Eagles continued their hot shooting throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half to extend their lead to 62-42, but the Warriors did not go down without a fight. Behind 11 points from Taylor and seven from freshman Luke Martens, WSU went on a 18-5 run to make it a 67-60 game with 2:59 left on the clock. Knickerbocker halted the Warrior comeback bid though with a layup at the 2:29 mark and the game was decided at the free throw line from there.
Caleb Wagner sank a pair of shots from the charity stripe to make it a six-point game with 1:02 remaining, but the home team would not relinquish its lead and sealed its win.
Wagner was the only other Warrior in double digits at the end of the night with 10 points, despite struggling from the field on the night at a 4-14 clip. The junior dished out a team-best four assists for the Warriors and pulled down five rebounds.
Winona State will look to bounce back on Saturday evening with the finale of its road trip at Bemidji State with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff against the Beavers.
