WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State University men's basketball team picked up a key victory on Saturday, Feb. 4, earning a NSIC weekend sweep at home, beating Wayne State College, 67-63.
Connor Dillon led Winona State in scoring with 23 points and six assists, following a stellar performance the night before in which he scored 26 in WSU's 74-69 win over Augustana University.
Dillon has met or surpassed the 20-point mark 13 times this winter and was joined on the stat sheet Saturday by
Luke Martens and
Connor Drew, with 15 and 11 points, respectively, as well as
James Kelley who had ten points coming off the bench.
Drew led WSU with eight rebounds, Kelley grabbed seven, and Martens added four, none more important than his final board off a Wayne State miss late in the game, helping secure the four-point Warrior win.
Following a Wildcat put-back tip-in to close the scoreline 64-63, Martens was fouled by WSC after his rebound and calmly knocked down both ensuing free throws to stretch the Winona State lead, 66-63.
James Kelley then completed the Warrior scoring by hitting one of two free throws with three seconds to go to ice the game at 67-63.
Marten's makes with six seconds remaining and the Warriors holding a narrow lead highlighted a solid night at the charity stripe for the team and were a part of Marten's 6-for-6 effort at the free throw line in the game.
Overall, the Warriors were 23-of-49 (46.9%) as a team from the floor and hit 8-of-18 (44.4%) from behind the arc, one of their best collective long-range efforts of the season. Winona State knocked down 13 free throws on 18 attempts. WSU out-rebounded Wayne State 34-27, a key part of the victory in a game that saw 15 lead changes throughout.
WSC was led in scoring by Nate Mohr with 17 points. Jordan Janssen and Cody McCullough both had nine rebounds each for the Wildcats.
Wayne State entered McCown Gymnasium on an eight game win streak over Winona State, but on Saturday, WSU parlayed a strong night shooting the basketball to down the Wildcats for the first time since Feb. 17, 2018.
With the win, Winona State improves to 13-10 overall and 8-10 in NSIC play, while Wayne State falls to 16-8 and 11-7 in league action.
The final four regular season contests loom large for Winona State, as WSU will play on the road in three of their remaining four games.
The Warriors will take on Southwest Minnesota State and the University of Sioux Falls next Friday and Saturday, before traveling to Minnesota State – Mankato on Thursday, Feb. 16. Winona State's final regular-season home contest, also Senior Day, is set for Saturday, Feb. 18 when they host Concordia, St. Paul 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.
