ABERDEEN, S.D.- The Warriors men's basketball team came up short 84-80 to the Northern State Wolves.
Winona State took a 43-37 lead into the break behind strong shooting from the field. NSU battled back in the second half with a late surge in the last few minutes to squeak out the 84-80 win.
How it Happened:
Winona State jumped out quickly with an early 7-2 lead after five points from
Alessandro Tonelli with 17:37 left in the first half.
Gavyn Hurley made a layup at 13:43 to put the Warriors back in front at 16-14. A basket by the Wolves Benjamin Bowen gave NSU a narrow 23-22 advantage at the 10:40 mark.
Aidan Bardic scored an and-one bucket, putting WSU back in front at 31-30 with 7:33 remaining in the first half. Hurley buried a three-ball at 1:12, keeping WSU in front at 40-37.
Ryan Heise connected on a three-pointer with 0:29 ending the half at 43-37 Winona State.
Tyler Mason extended the WSU edge to 46-39 at 19:29 with a three-pointer of his own. Northern State cut their deficit to 47-45 after a Simon Akena three-ball at 16:58. Five straight points from Mason ballooned the Warriors lead to 54-46 after a jumper with 15:17 to play. Akena erased the Warriors momentum with a three-pointer making it a narrow 54-53 WSU edge at the 13:10 mark. James Glenn knocked in a three-ball granting NSU a 56-54 advantage at 11:52. Heise scored on a layup keeping the game within a possession at 70-68 NSU with 5:50 remaining. Hurley tied the contest at 75-75 with a layup at 3:02.
Jaron Crews scored on a layup cutting the deficit to 79-77 with 1:11 to play. Northern State scored five straight points to ice the game. A late game and-one bucket by Crews wasn't enough as the Warriors fell 84-80.
Statistical Comparison:
- The Warriors shot 29-of-57 (50.9%) from the field while the Wolves went 31-of-54 (57.4%)
- Winona State shot eight-of-20 (40.0%) from deep with Northern State going 10-of-27 (37.0%) from three-point land.
- From the free throw line, WSU went 14-of-23 (60.9%) while the Wolves shot 12-of-18 (66.7%) from the charity stripe.
- WSU hauled in 31 boards compared to NSUs 26.
- Hurley led WSU in scoring 19 points on an efficient six-of-seven from the field and six-of-10 from the FT line.
- Heise added a strong 18 points on six-of-11 shooting and three-of-five from deep.
- Mason chipped in with 15 points while Crews put up 12 points in the loss.
- The Wolves were led by Joshua Book and Akena who each scored a game-high 21 points.
- Tobi Obiora added 14 points with Marshawn Smith contributing 12 points in the win.
Winona State will travel to Jamestown, N.D. to play the Jamestown Jimmies on Saturday January 17 at 3:00pm.
