WINONA, Minn.- The Warriors men's basketball team fell short to the MSU Moorhead Dragons 83-79.
Winona State and MSU Moorhead played in a back-and-forth first half that ended with a narrow 42-38 edge to the Dragons. The second half was tightly contested with the Dragons pulling ahead late to secure the road victory.
How it Happened:
MSUM got off to a hot start going up 7-0 at the 18:37 mark behind five points from Isa El-Amin. WSU cut the deficit to 9-7 after a
Ryan Heise layup with 16:36 left in the first half. Winona State secured their first advantage of the half with a three-ball from
Tyler Mason assisted by
Gavyn Hurley at the 15:18 mark putting the game at 12-11 WSU.
Aidan Bardic gave WSU a six-point edge at the 12:44 mark, making it 19-13 Warriors. A three-point barrage that included three in three possessions from the Dragons put them in front at 27-24 with 7:31 left in the half. Mason kept the game within a possession after a jumper cut the deficit to 29-28 at 6:02. Dominic Gooden extended the MSU Moorhead advantage to 35-28 at 4:50 after four straight points. Consecutive baskets from
Connor Roffers and Hurley made it 39-36 Dragons with 1:32 remaining in the half. Kabine Kaba scored on a layup from El-Amin ending the half at 42-38 Dragons.
Alessandro Tonelli and Hurley connected on back-to-back baskets to keep the game within a possession at 45-42 MSUM with 18:38 remaining. Hurley gave WSU the advantage at 52-51 on an and-one bucket at 16:17. Winona State increased their lead to 57-51 after a three-ball by Mason with 15:18 remaining. The Dragons knotted the game 57-57 on a Timaris Brown jump shot at 13:41. Rodrick Payne put the Dragons back in front on a layup, giving MSUM a 59-58 edge with 9:55 left. Bardic scored on a layup at 6:25, cutting the Dragon lead to 66-61. 10 points in row from Tonelli put the game within a possession at 75-72 MSUM at the 2:53 mark. Five points in a row from Hurley tied the contest at 77-77 with 1:35 to play. MSU Moorhead scored on their next two possessions giving them an 81-77 advantage. After a Hurley layup, MSUM knocked in a free throw to end the game 83-79.
Statistical Comparison
- The Warriors shot 29-of-64 (45.3%) from the field while the Dragons went 30-of-60 (50.0%)
- Winona State shot seven-of-26 (26.9%) from deep with MSU Moorhead going seven-of-22 (31.8%) from three-point land.
- From the free throw line, WSU went 14-of-20 (70.0%) while the Dragons shot 16-of-21 (76.2%) from the charity stripe.
- MSUM hauled in 36 boards compared to Winona State's 34.
- Hurley led WSU in scoring with 26 points on an efficient eight of-of-12 from the field, and a stellar nine-of-nine from the FT line. He also led WSU with nine rebounds.
- Tonelli added a strong 18 points on seven-of-10 shooting and three-of-six from deep.
- Mason and Bardic chipped in with 12 points each.
- The Dragons were led by Brown's 19 points on seven-of-13 shooting and 10 rebounds.
- Sam Hastreiter put up 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Winona State will hit the road next weekend traveling to Aberdeen, S.D. to play Northern State on Friday January 16 at 5:30pm.
