WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State University men's basketball team faced off with Augustana University on Friday, Feb. 3 and closed out the final minutes of the game with some clutch plays to earn a 74-69 Warrior win.
The Vikings entered McCown Gymnasium on a two-game win streak, having won on the road at St. Cloud State (90-66) and Minnesota Duluth (87-82) last weekend. Winona State opened play Friday looking to snap a three-game skid and make up some ground in the NSIC South postseason race. The two teams tangled in a two-overtime affair earlier in the season - a game won by the Warriors 82-79 on a last-second shot by
Luke Martens - and Friday's match up picked up where that close contest left off.
In the first half, Winona State watched the Vikings open up with a 9-0 run but WSU responded with a 12-2 scoring streak of their own to take a 14-12 lead at the 12 minute mark of the opening stanza. The teams traded buckets throughout the remainder of the period before the Vikings converted a pair of shots late to take a 34-28 lead into the locker room.
After the break, Winona State whittled away at Augustana's six point lead and WSU's
James Kelley delivered a layup to tied the score at 54-54 and then hit twice from the foul line to move Winona State ahead by two 56-54 just 45 seconds later.
The Warriors owned an eight-point lead at 67-59 with just over four minutes left to play, but Augustana chipped away at the Warrior advantage and appeared on pace to force overtime. A final last-ditch look from the Vikings that included a pair of made free throws with 43 seconds to go, was followed by a put-back layup to draw to within two at 71-69. But, the Warrior faithful saw
Declan Dillon hit two free throws after being fouled, and then
Luke Martens grab a key defensive rebound in the final ten seconds, diffusing the threat of late-game Augustana heroics.
As a team, Winona State was 29-of-57 (50.9%) overall from the floor and hit 8-of-24 (33.3%) 3-pointers on the evening.
WSU earned 14 trips to the foul line, converting eight, while the Vikings were 7-of-12 on free throws. Augustana
held a slight edge in rebounds at 29-28..
Winona State was led in scoring by Connor Dillon, scoring 26 on the night, just one point shy of his career high 27 notched earlier this year on the road at b Concordia, St. Paul on Dec. 3. James Kelley and Luke Martens added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Declan Dillon added six rebounds and dished out a season-high nine assists for head coach Todd Eisner.
The Vikings were paced by Issac Fink with 20 points. Akoi Akoi had nine rebounds for Augustana, while the visitors shot 27-of-57 (47.4%) overall in the contest.
With the victory, Winona State improves to 12-10 overall, 7-10 in the NSIC. The Warriors are next in action on Saturday, Feb. 4 when they host Wayne State College. The Warriors and Wildcats will tip off at 3:30 p.m. in McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court.
For the most up to date news in Warrior Athletics, please visit: www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and @WinonaStateATH.
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.
