BEMIDJI, Minn.- The Winona State men's basketball team came up big down the stretch to defeat the Bemidji State Beavers 86-83 in overtime.
Winona State jumped out to a 36-30 lead at halftime. A tightly contested second half saw Bemidji State knock in a layup with seven seconds remaining to send the game to overtime. The Warriors fell behind 83-82 with 46 seconds left after a three-pointer by the Beavers.
Tyler Mason was able to give WSU an 84-83 advantage on a layup at 0:29 in OT. A missed shot by BSU followed by a pair of free throws by Mason was the difference in the contest that ended 86-83.
How it Happened:
Winona State came out firing with an early 10-2 lead at 15:26 behind six points from
Ryan Heise. The Beavers Nathan Fenske scored an and-one layup to cut their deficit to 14-8 BSU at 13:09.
Aidan Bardic connected on a jumper at 11:45, putting WSU in front at 19-10. A 9-0 Beaver run capped off by a Henry Shannon III layup knotted the contest at 19-19 with 8:30 left in the half. Dominic Fairbanks buried a three-ball giving BSU a 25-22 advantage at the 5:50 mark. Back-to-back jump shots by
Gavyn Hurley brought Winona State back in front at 28-27 at 3:58. Heise scored on a layup assisted by Hurley at 0:36 ending the scoring in the half at 36-30 Warriors.
Alessandro Tonelli extended the WSU edge to 39-30 on a three-pointer at 18:26. Five points from John Pecarich cut the WSU lead down to 45-43 at the 14:46 mark. Mason knocked in a three-ball to give WSU a four-point advantage at 51-47 with 13:12 to play. After BSU took a 52-51 lead, a 6-0 Warrior run finished off by a Heise layup made the game 57-52 Winona State at 7:46. Hurley scored on a layup at 5:22 keeping WSU in front at a narrow 61-58 lead. A clutch three-pointer from Mason at 2:30 put the game at 71-66 Warriors with 2:30 remaining. The Beavers Eddie Jallow Hedqvist tied the contest at 71-71 on a three-point shot at 1:10. Heise placed WSU in front at 73-71 at 0:53 after a made layup. Shannon III tied the game back up at 73-73 on a layup from Fairbanks with seven seconds left. The Warriors had a pair of opportunities on their last possession in regulation but were unsuccessful, sending the game to OT.
An early bucket by BSU was countered with two free throws from Hurley, tying the game at 75-75 with 4:19 left in the overtime frame. An and-one layup by Mason tied the game at 80-80 at 2:27. A pair of free throws by Tonelli gave WSU an 82-80 advantage with 1:03 remaining in OT. Jallow Hedqvist connected on a three-ball from Pecarich, putting BSU back in front at 83-82 with 46 seconds left. Mason stormed back with a layup at 0:29, bringing WSU back ahead at 84-83. A missed shot by the Beavers was followed by a pair of crucial free throws by Mason with 3.7 seconds left, giving Winona State an 86-83 edge. A missed half-court shot by BSU ended the thriller at 86-83 WSU.
Statistical Comparison:
- The Warriors shot 31-of-65 (47.7%) from the field while the Beavers went 31-of-66 (47.0%)
- Winona State shot eight-of-25 (32.0%) from deep with Bemidji State going 16-of-37 (43.2%) from three-point land.
- Mason led WSU with a sturdy 24 points on eight-of-18 shooting, two-of-eight from deep, and six-of-seven from the FT line.
- Heise added 23 points on an efficient nine-of-13 shooting with a team-high nine rebounds.
- Tonelli chipped in with a strong 19 points with Hurley scoring 10 points in the OT win.
- Pecarich scored a game-high 26 points for the Beavers on nine-of-21 shooting.
- Jallow Hedqvist registered 22 points while Shannon III scored 14 points and grabbed 10 boards in the loss.
Winona State will return home next weekend with its next contest on Friday, January 30 at 7:30pm in McCown Gymnasium against UMary.
