WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State University men's basketball team entered their contest with the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs on Friday, December 9 looking to start a NSIC winning streak, coming off a 66-63 victory over Concordia, St. Paul last weekend on the road.
However, the Mustangs had other plans and snapped their own two-game losing streak in the process, defeating Winona State 62-46 in McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court.
Winona State and SMSU battled in the first half, with the two teams finding themselves tied on five different occasions in the opening ten minutes of play.
After a
Connor Dillon layup drew the teams level at 14-14, the Mustangs began to slowly build a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. WSU fell behind by a seven point margin at two different parts of the first half but closed the gap slightly to go into the locker room at the break down five points at 28-23. WSU had a tough time converting open looks in the first half, going 10-for-30 (33.33%) from the floor and did not fare better from behind the arc, hitting just three of 14 3-point attempts.
In the second half, Winona State's cold shooting touch continued, as only one Warrior,
Connor Dillon, was able to dent double digits on the score sheet, finishing with 14 points overall. The sophomore from Peoria, Illinois was 4-of-8 from 3-point territory and 5-of-12 overall from the field.
Declan Dillon aided the Warrior effort with eight points and led WSU with eight rebounds.
Winona State was only awarded six free throws in the game, converting four, while SMSU knocked down six of their ten efforts from the charity stripe. WSU saw the Mustangs block four Warrior shots, while Winona State held a narrow advantage on the boards at 33-31.
Southwest Minnesota State (5-3 overall, 2-2 NSIC) was led in scoring on the night by Anthony Costello with 17 points. Jake Phipps had seven rebounds for SMSU.
As a team, WSU hit 18-of-60 shots from the floor, a 30.0% mark. Winona State earned six trips to the foul line, converting on four attempts. From behind the arc overall in the game, Winona State was just 6-of-28 (21.4%),
With the loss, Winona State slides to 6-3 on the year and is 1-3 in NSIC play. WSU will welcome the University of Sioux Falls Cougars on Saturday, Dec. 10 to wrap up their final NSIC home weekend of 2022. USF and WSU will tip off at 5:30 p.m. in McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court.
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www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and
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About Winona State University Athletics:
The Winona State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, as an integral part of the educational mission of the institution, is committed to offering opportunities to experience academic and athletic excellence for our student-athletes through two simple words:
Graduate Champions.
Fourteen Warrior programs compete at the NCAA Division II level within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Winona State University competes as an affiliate member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in the sport of women's gymnastics.
