WINONA, Minn. — The Winona State men's basketball team held off the University of Mary late, securing an 84-80 victory inside McCown Gymnasium Friday night.
The Warriors took a narrow 43-42 lead into the locker room following a back-and-forth opening half. Neither team was able to create separation in the second half, with Winona State responding in the closing moments with timely scoring and defensive stops, allowing the Warriors to close out the four-point win.
How it Happened:
Winona State opened the game strongly with an 11-5 lead at 16:09 behind two three-pointers from
Alessandro Tonelli. A three-ball by
Gavyn Hurley put WSU in front 16-9 at the 14:10 mark. UMary cut their deficit to 20-15 after a Tyresse Poku Mensah layup at 12:42. A jumper by Alex Dvorak gave UMary a 24-23 advantage at the 9:00 mark. After each squad traded three-balls, The Warriors sparked a 7-0 run capped off by a
Tyler Mason three-pointer at 5:58, making it a 33-27 WSU edge. The Marauders stormed back with a 7-0 run of their own finished off by a Tamarrein Henderson three-ball with 4:19 in the first half, giving UMary a slight 34-33 lead. An and-one layup by
Ryan Heise made it 43-40 Warriors at the 0:56 mark. Kelton Colman made it 43-42 WSU at the break after a jumper at 0:04.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Mason and Heise expanded the Winona State advantage to 51-44 with 16:28 left in the game. Tonelli converted on an and-one bucket at 14:46, to put the contest at 54-48 WSU. Four quick points from Coleman cut the game to one possession at 63-61 Winona State at the 9:03 mark.
Jaron Crews buried a crucial three-ball at 8:39 to extend the edge to 66-61 Warriors. The back-and-forth contest was tied back up at 68-68 after the Marauders Henderson converted on a jumper at 6:16. After a 70-70 tie, WSU went on a 10-2 run following a Heise dunk with 2:14 left in the game. UMary snuck back into the contest after a Jackson Ware tip-in at 0:34 made it a slight 82-80 WSU edge. Clutch free throws from Mason and a late game stop gave Winona State the tight 84-80 home win.
Statistical Comparison:
- The Warriors shot 31-of-58 (53.4%) from the field while the Marauders went 36-of-68 (52.9%)
- Winona State shot a solid 11-of-23 (47.8%) from deep with UMary going six-of-29 (20.7%) from three-point land.
- UMary won the rebound battle 35-29 over the Warriors.
- Heise led WSU with a season-high 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting and eight rebounds.
- Mason added 21 points on six-of-13 shooting, four-of-eight from deep, and a perfect five-of-five from the line.
- Tonelli chipped in with a strong 17 points while Aidan Bardic dished out a career-high 10 assists.
- Henderson scored 24 points for the Marauders on 10-of-16 shooting and four-of-eight from three.
- Coleman registered 16 points while Poku Mensah scored 15 points and grabbed six boards in the loss.
Winona State will stay at home with its next contest on Saturday, January 31 at 5:30pm in McCown Gymnasium against Minot State.
