WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State University men's basketball team held ten players from the University of Sioux falls to 12 points or less in their Saturday, Dec. 10 matchup in McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court.
Unfortunately for the Warrior faithful, the 11th USF Cougar - Matt Cartwright – proved to be unstoppable on the evening, scoring 37 points for the visitors in dealing Winona State a 68-63 loss.
Cartwright was 15-of-23 from the floor and 5-of-8 from behind the arc, overshadowing a strong effort from Winona State's
Connor Dillon, who had 25 points in the game.
Dillon was just one basket shy of his career-best 27 points scored earlier this year at Concordia-St. Paul and did everything he could to help WSU offset Cartwright's big night.
The two teams started slowly in the game, with USF holding just a 4-0 lead after five minutes of play. WSU's
James Kelley helped spark the Warrior start with a driving basket and a foul, and then Dillon hit back-to-back 3-pointers to move WSU to a 11-10 lead midway through the first half.
Winona State's
Leonardo Da Campo connected on a triple at the 9:24 mark of the first half, moving the Warrior advantage to 18-14, in what would be the largest, and last, lead for WSU.
USF slowly increased their margin over Winona State in the final five minutes of play and took a 31-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.
After the break,
Connor Dillon picked up where he left off in the first half, scoring the opening bucket of the second twenty minutes for WSU, but found his effort matched by USF's Cartwright who knocked down a three pointer moments later.
That scoring scenario would be on a rinse-and-repeat cycle throughout the final 15 minutes, with Dillon's slashing drives to the hoop often answered by a three-pointer at the other end of the floor by Cartwright.
Winona State battled back to within four points with just under five minutes to play at 57-53 but were unable to close any further and suffered the 68-63 loss.
Connor Dillon finished the night with 25 points on 9-of-22 shooting, including a 5-of-13 effort from behind the arc.
Declan Dillon added ten points as the only other Warrior to reach double-figures.
Luke Martens hauled in seven rebounds to pace WSU on the boards and
James Kelley came off the bench to notch eight points, going 3-of-5 from the field.
Overall, Winona State was 22-of-58 (37.9%) from the floor and 9-of-26 (34.6%) on 3-pointers. WSU hit 10-of-15 (66.7%) free throws and hauled in 29 rebounds, compared to 31 for USF.
Cartwright's 37 points for Sioux Falls was the third-best effort within the NSIC ranks so far this year and helped run the Cougars' record to 8-3 overall and 3-2 in NSIC action.
With the setback, Winona State falls to 6-4 overall and 1-4 in the NSIC. The Warriors will head west next weekend, traveling to Wayne State College on Saturday, Dec. 17 and competing at Augustana University on Sunday, Dec. 18. The Warriors and Wildcats are set for a 5:30 pm tip off in Wayne, Neb. and a 3:30 pm start at Augustana.
