St. PAUL, Minn. – Devin Whitelow scored a season-high 18 points against Concordia – St. Paul on Thursday night, but none were more important then the three he notched in the final moments of the game.

Tied at 63-63 with four seconds to go, the senior from Peoria, Ill. took matters into his own hands, driving to hoop to deliver a dynamic layup, and drew a foul in the process. With the ensuing successful free-throw, Whitelow spotted the Warriors a 3-point lead at 66-63.  Moments later, teammate Luke Martens stole the ball from CSP on the inbounds and was fouled, calmly adding two more free throws to the final tally. The frantic four seconds allowed Winona State to leave the Gangelhoff Center with a 68-63 NSIC victory and even their NSIC South record at 1-1 on the year.

Whitelow came alive in the second half, leading to a 7-of-14 night from the floor including a 3-of-4 evening behind the arc. He also hauled in five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists.

Martens was a major factor on the boards, leading the Warrior way with nine rebounds.  Martens scored 11 points, one of the three WSU players in double-digits, and was 5-of-6 from the foul line, none bigger than his final two with two seconds left in the game. Alec Rosner also hit double-digits with 15 points, 11 in the first half. 

The Golden Bears made things interesting for Winona State, battling back from a 41-28 deficit at halftime.  CSP saw Jacob Everson and Marcus Skeete each score 13 points on the evening, while the CSP bench outscored the Warrior reserves by a 29 to 11 count..

The two teams tied in rebounding totals with 33 each, but Winona State owned an edge at the offensive end of the floor with nine offensive boards which translated into 14 second-chance points. As a team, WSU shot 44.8% from the floor and 36.4% from behind the 3-point line. The Warriors were 8-for-12 from the foul line overall, but hit their final three attempts in the last four seconds of the game to seal the victory.

Winona State moves to 5-2 overall on the season, and 1-1 in NSIC play. The Warriors return home to host Minnesota State – Mankato on Saturday, Dec. 4.  Start time is set for 1:30pm in McCown gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court.