WAYNE, Neb.- The Warriors men's basketball team was on the losing side of a back-and-forth battle at Wayne State 65-64.
Winona State held a slight 32-27 advantage after the first half. Both teams traded blows in the second half with the game later being tied at 64-64 with 2:33 to play. The game remained scoreless until a Warriors foul put the Wildcats on the line to make one-of-two free throws with three seconds to win the game 65-64. The contest saw 14 ties and 11 lead changes.
How it Happened:
Winona State got off to a fast 7-2 start after a three-pointer from
Ryan Heise assisted by
Jaron Crews at the 17:06 mark. Wayne State quickly responded with an 8-0 run capped off by JJ Ferrin three-ball to give the Wildcats a 10-7 lead with 15:20 left in the first half. WSU kept the game within a bucket when
Tyler Mason made a layup at 10:50 to make it 15-13 WSC.
Tyler Borowski gave the Warriors a 16-15 lead with a three-point shot at 9:01. Borowski added five more points keeping the squad in front at 21-19 at the 6:19 mark. Mason connected on a three-ball at 0:40 keeping the Warriors up at 31-26. Both teams ended the half making a free throw giving WSU a 32-27 after the first 20 minutes.
After a 5-0 Wildcat run to start the half,
Aidan Bardic made a layup to put Winona State back in front at 34-32 with 18:17 to play. Borowski connected on an and-one layup at 10:20 to retake the lead at 48-47 Warriors. A Bardic layup gave the Warriors a six-point lead at 55-49 with 8:27 left. Heise hit a clutch three-pointer granting WSU a 60-51 advantage at 6:00. Wayne State gained five quick points, cutting the Wildcats deficit to 60-57 into the last media timeout at 4:32. An
Alessandro Tonelli layup was followed by a three-pointer from Darshan Thomas to tie the game back up at 62-62 with 3:07 to play. Eldon Turner put the Wildcats in front at 64-62 with 2:44 left. A pair of Crews free throws knotted the game up at 64-64 at the 2:33 mark. Matt Noll went one-for-two from the free throw line after a Warriors foul with three seconds left to give Wayne State a 65-64 advantage. WSU missed a half court shot at the buzzer to fall in the one-point contest.
Statistical Comparison
- The Warriors shot 23-of-49 (46.9%) from the field while the Wildcats went 25-of-55 (45.5%)
- WSC dominated the Warriors on the glass 36-20.
- Winona State shot seven-of-22 (31.8%) from deep with Wayne State going six-of-19 (31.6%) from three-point land.
- From the free throw line, WSU went 11-of-12 (91.7%) while Wildcats shot nine-of-12 (75.0%) from the charity stripe.
- Tonelli led the Warriors in scoring with 14 points on four-of-eight shooting from the field.
- Borowski registered 13 points on an efficient five-of-six shooting and two-of-three from deep.
- Noll scored a game-high 17 points for the Vikings on seven-of-13 shooting and two-of-three from the free throw line, including the game-winner.
- Ferrin Aurrion Harris chipped in 11 points a piece.
Winona State will play next in the new year when they face-off against Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, January 3 at 1:00pm in McCown Gymnasium.
