St. CLOUD, Minn. – The Winona State University men's basketball team faced off with St. Cloud State on Friday, Jan. 13 in a contest that saw the host Huskies pull away late to deal WSU a 74-70 loss on the road.
Winona State trailed 39-33 at the break and started cold in the second 20 minutes, falling behind by double-digits just three minutes in at 52-38.
Luke Martens helped WSU climb back into the contest when he scored on a layup following a timeout and
Owen King hit a 3-pointer moments later to provide a strong Warrior response, closing the gap to 11 mid-way through the second half.
The two teams traded baskets for much of the remainder of the second stanza with four Warriors,
Connor Drew,
Declan Dillon,
Owen King and
Luke Martens, all reaching double figures in scoring as WSU chipped away at the Huskies' lead. In the final minute, WSU closed the contest to within three points at 71-68, but SCSU's Jalen Griffin hit one of two free throws to move the scoreboard to 72-68.
However, the Warriors'
Declan Dillon answered with a layup with 12 seconds to go, pulling WSU to within a hero's reach, down just two at 72-70.
Unfortunately for Winona State, St. Cloud State's Matthew Willert connected on two free throws with ten seconds to play to ice the game for the home team. Willert's late-game makes were part of a 12-of-14 day at the foul line for SCSU; WSU was 9-of-12 from the free throw line in the game.
Winona State held the advantage on the boards (32-28) but St. Cloud State took advantage of eight Huskie steals in the game in forcing WSU into 12 turnovers.
St. Cloud State was 25-of-60 (41.7%) on the night. The Huskies saw Jalen Griffin lead their team with 15 points. SCSU moves to 7-9 overall and 4-7 in NSIC play.
As a team, Winona State shot 29-of-59 (44.1%) from the floor overall and were 9-of-25 from 3-point territory.
Connor Drew led WSU with 17 points, while
Declan Dillon had 15 points and six rebounds.
Owen King also hit double-digits with 11 points and
Luke Martens added ten. Drew hauled in eight rebounds to lead Winona State on the boards.
With the loss, WSU moves to 9-7 on the year and 4-7 in the NSIC. Winona State will take on Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, Jan. 14 , The Bulldogs and Warriors will tip off in 5:30 pm in Romano Gymnasium.
