WINONA, Minn.- The Warriors men's basketball team had six players in double figures to hand them an 85-67 win over Concordia-St. Paul.
Winona State held a triumphant 50-31 lead at the break and never looked back in the 85-67 NSIC victory.
How it Happened:
Ryan Watters and
Ryan Heise knocked in a shot apiece to give WSU a 4-1 lead with 17:44 left in the first half. Winona State exploded for a 12-0 run including five points from
Tyler Mason to balloon the edge to 16-4 at 15:14.
Aidan Bardic hit a pair of free throws to give WSU a 16-point advantage at 24-8 with 11:09 left in the half.
Alessandro Tonelli buried a three-ball to keep the Warriors in front at 28-14 at the 8:35 mark. Ben Kopetzki made a layup for the Golden Bears to cut the deficit to 33-21 at 6:47 in the half. Five points from Watters extended the WSU edge to 50-29 with 1:17 left in the half. Reid Patterson limited the Winona State advantage to 50-31 with a jumper to end the half.
Bardic buried a jump-shot at 18:30 to give WSU a 25-point lead at 57-32. Isaiah Deitz knocked home a three-pointer to cut the lead to 64-46 with 12:18 left in the game. Heise connected on a jump-shot at 9:14 to keep the Warriors at a comfortable 70-47 advantage with 9:41 to play. 11 points in a row from Patterson kept the Golden Bears in the game at 72-61 with 7:44 left. Tonelli hit a clutch three-pointer at 6:38, bumping the Warriors in front by 11 at 75-64 with 6:38 left. Mason iced the game with a layup at 2:16 keeping WSU in the driver's seat at 79-67. WSU scored the final points of the game ending it at 85-67.
Statistical Comparison
- The Warriors shot 33-of-61 (54.1%) from the field while the Golden Bears went 20-of-64 (31.3%)
- CSP edged the Warriors on the glass 40-36.
- Winona State shot eight-of-20 (40.0%) from deep with Concordia-St. Paul going eight-of-35 (22.9%) from three-point land.
- From the free throw line, WSU went 11-of-16 (68.8%) while the Golden Bears shot 19-of-28 (67.9%) from the charity stripe.
- Heise led WSU in scoring 21 points on an efficient eight-of-11 from the field.
- Mason added a strong 18 points on seven-of-14 shooting and three-of-six from deep. He added a team high nine rebounds with Bardic leading the charge dishing out six assists.
- Other Warriors in double figure were Watters (12), Bardic (12), Tonelli, and Tyson Keil (10).
- Patterson notched a team-high 20 points from Golden Bears with Kopetzki adding 17 of his own.
Winona State will play next when they face-off against Minnesota Crookston and MSU Moorhead next weekend at home on January 9 and 10.
