Winona, Minn.- The Warriors men's basketball fell 76-56 to the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs.
Winona State fell behind 41-29 at the break. The Warriors cut it to as little as nine points at 59-50, but the Mustangs rode a strong defense with timely buckets to take the game 76-56.
How it Happened:
WSU kicked off their scoring with a
Ryan Heise layup to make it 2-2 at the 17:28 mark. After a 10-3 run by the Mustangs,
Aidan Bardic knocked in a layup to cut the deficit to 12-7 SMSU at 14:23. The Warriors went on a 7-0 run capped off by a
Tyson Keil bucket to make it 20-16 at the 8:44 mark.
Jaron Crews later buried a three-pointer making it 32-23 with 2:34 remaining. A three-ball by
Alessandro Tonelli was followed by a Mekhi Shaw three of his own to put the contest at 41-29 at the break.
Back-to-back three-balls by
Tyler Mason kept the game within reach at 50-39 with 15:29 remaining. A Landon Pokorski jumper gave the Mustangs a 59-46 lead at the mark. Back-to-back baskets by the Warriors Mason and
Kayden Wells cut the lead to single digits at 59-50 with 10:36 to play. SMSU exploded their lead to 67-50 after a Micah Schlaak layup at 9:10. A free throw by Crews ended the Warriors scoring in a 76-56 defeat.
Statistical Comparison
- The Warriors shot 22-of-52 (42.3%) from the field while the Mustangs went 30-of-51 (58.8%)
- SMSU won the battle of the boards 27-23.
- Winona State shot seven-of-21 (33.3%) from deep with SMSU going 11-of-22 (50.0%) from three-point land.
- From the free throw line, WSU went five-for-eight (62.5%) while SMSU shot five-of-seven (71.4%) from the charity strip.
- Mason led the Warriors in scoring with 15 points on six-of-13 shooting and three-of-eight from three-point land.
- Heise added a strong 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
- Schlaak scored a game-high 21 points for the Mustangs on seven-of-12 shooting and a five-of-eight from the charity strip.
- Jakob Braaten added 13 points on six-of-eight shooting with seven assists.
Winona State will hit the road and travel to Augustana University on Thursday, December 18 with tipoff slated for 5:30pm.
