WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State University men's basketball team celebrated standout seniors
Owen King and
Luke Martens on Saturday, Feb. 18, taking on Concordia St. Paul in McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court.
Winona State and CSP were separated by just one point at the break with the Warriors leading 33-32, and WSU fought off a late CSP rally in the second half with some timely free throws to send the seniors out in style with an 81-77 win over the Golden Bears.
Connor Dillon delivered 27 points on the day, none more important than an and-one deep in the second half, followed by two clutch
Luke Martens free throws to maintain a thin lead late. Dillon was fouled on a driving layup with 1:08 to go in the game and converted on the ensuing free throw to give WSU a 77-72 lead.
However, CSP scored a pair of free throws at the other end and then drained a 3-pointer moments later to answer a
Connor Drew layup for WSU, closing the gap to 79-77.
With ten seconds left,
Luke Martens was fouled following the inbounds pass - and with the game in his hands on the free throw line - converted both attempts to move the scoreboard to 81-77.
For
Connor Dillon, the 27 points in the game was his second time this season hitting that figure, just three shy of his career high 30 achieved on Jan. 14 against Minnesota Duluth. Dillon finishes the season with 14 games of 20 or more points scored.
Martens made the most of his senior day effort, scoring 19 points, including a 6-of-6 performance from the free throw line.
Declan Dillon added 11 points on a 5-of-7 night from the floor in the Warrior win.
As a team, Winona State was 29-of-59 (49.2%) from the floor and 8-of-23 (34.8%) from three-point territory. WSU converted 15 of their 24 free throws, including eight of the final ten efforts under five minutes to play.
WSU was solid defensively against the Golden Bears, owning a 15-2 advantage on points scored off of turnovers and the Warriors held a narrow 31-30 rebounding advantage.
CSP was led in scoring by Antwan Kimmons with 22 points. Kimmons was also the top Golden Bear rebounder with 10 boards. Concordia St. Paul falls to 8-20 on the year, 6-16 in NSIC play.
With the win, Winona State concludes the 2022-23 season at 15-12 overall, 10-12 in the NSIC.
