WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State University men's basketball team provided their four seniors a fitting regular-season send-off on Saturday, pulling away in the second half to defeat the University of Minnesota Crookston 63-40 in McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court.
Winona State (19-9, 14-8 NSIC) honored four Warrior seniors; Brock Voigt, Jordan Wilkins, Carter Lomas and Carson Arenz prior to the contest. Olumide Adelodun notched a double-double for his team and WSU put together one of the best defensive efforts of the season in holding UMC to just 40 points and Winona State saw a 31-12 second half seal the win.
How it Happened:
Minnesota Crookston raced out to a 16-2 lead in the first five minutes of play, as the WSU offense was slow to get into gear following the opening tip.
Olumide Adelodun and Connor Dillon were able to finally get things moving for the Warriors after the media timeout, and Devon Fielding added to the WSU comeback effort with a 3-pointer at 9:25 and layup moments later to close the gap to 20-18 in favor of UMC.
Connor Dillon spotted Winona State their first lead of the game with a layup on a fast break with 6:13 to play and an Adelodun 3-pointer put WSU up 34-28 heading into the halftime break.
At the Half: Winona State 32, UMC 28
In the final 20 minutes, Olumide Adelodun picked up where he left off before the intermission, scoring a 3-pointer to spark a Warrior run, with Brock Voigt, Declan Dillon and Connor Dillon pushing Winona State out to a 19 point advantage in the space of just five minutes.
While the WSU offense began to fire on all cylinders, Todd Eisner's team also laid into a lock-down defensive effort in the second half, holding the Golden Eagles to just six points midway through the period. UMC connected on only six shots from the floor in the entire second half, going 5-for-21 overall, with just one 3-pointer among the makes. WSU's defensive presence led to a 8-4 advantage on steals.
Winona State would see Olumide Adelodun finish with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Brock Voigt added 15, en route to the 63-40 Warrior win.
WSU Stats Standouts:
Olumide Adelodun 18 points, 10 rebounds
Brock Voigt 15 points, 7 rebounds
Connor Dillon 10 points, 2 steals
Team Stats Comparables:
Minnesota Crookston was 16-of-53 (30.2%) from the floor in the game, while the Warriors were 24-of-58 (41.4%) in the contest.
WSU had a slight 35-34 edge in total rebounds and had a 8-4 advantage in steals.
The Warriors notched 18 points off of Golden Eagle turnovers, UMC did not convert a turnover opportunities against WSU.
Beyond the Box Score:
With the Warrior win, WSU avenged a 77-69 loss at Crookston earlier this year.
WSU has won seven of the last eight games against the Golden Eagles.
Up Next:
Winona State (19-9, 14-8 NSIC) will host Northern State University on Wednesday, February 28 in the first round of the NSIC Men's Basketball Tournament. The Warriors and Wolves will tip off at 6 p.m. in McCown Gymnasium, home of WNB Financial Court.
