WINONA, Minn. – Winona State men's basketball pulled out a 71-65 home win over Sioux Falls after scoring the game's final six points to secure the victory.
Four Warriors scored in double figures and WSU defended a second half USF surge to earn the win on night one of an NSIC weekend.
How it Happened:
After seeing the Cougars drop the first bucket of the night, a pair of threes by
Tyler Mason and
Connor Drew gave WSU an early scoring advantage. Sioux Falls brought it back within one at 23-22, but a backdoor dunk by
Nick Taylor, followed by a three-pointer from
Devon Fielding, and then a breakaway poster slam by Taylor put Winona State ahead by eight. The Warriors eventually went into the locker room with a 40-33 lead.
WSU leaped out to a 10-point lead in the second stanza, but the Cougars slowly crawled back into the game and took a 55-52 lead with 10:52 remaining. After several ties and lead changes, the contest was all square at 65 apiece with just under three to play. Mason knocked down his fourth triple of the night, followed by a defensive stop, then a
Jhei-R Jones three from the corner as the shot clock expired to propel WSU to a 71-65 victory.
Statistical Leaders:
- Jones led all scorers with 18 points on 7-12 shooting including 3-7 from deep. Luke Haertle dropped 14 points, Mason added 12 on four three-pointers, and Isaiah Thompson notched 10 points.
- Thompson picked up 14 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end to collect his fourth double-double of the season.
- Haertle dished out six assists to go along with four rebounds and two steals.
- Creighton Morisch scored 13 points and grabbed 10 boards to lead Sioux Falls.
Team Comparison:
- WSU shot 42.4% from the field compared to USF's 44.6%.
- The Warriors were 12-29 (.414) from downtown and the Cougars were 8-26 (.308) from deep.
- Each team notched 30 points in the paint, while USF had a one-point advantage on fast break scoring.
- Winona State forced 17 Cougar turnovers and had nine themselves.
The Warriors (8-2, 3-1 NSIC) host Southwest Minnesota State (8-2, 3-1 NSIC) tomorrow, Saturday, December 14th at 5:30pm in McCown Gymnasium. Both teams are receiving votes in the most recent NABC DII poll.
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www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and
@WinonaStateATH.
