Erin Cochran/Winonan

The Winona State University men’s basketball team split the weekend as they closed regular season play defeating Wayne State, 73-64 and falling to Augustana, 81-78 in overtime.

Friday’s game against the Wayne State Wildcats showcased the dynamic team the Warriors are. At half, Winona State lead by six-points. At 13:28 to play, the Wildcats pulled within one but a 7-2 run gave the Warriors a nine-point lead to solidify the victory with one minute to play.

Clayton Vette went 13-of-20 and recorded his fourth 30-point game this season. He also had three assists and seven rebounds. Vette reached his career high of 31 points three times this season and is now in the number 10 position of Winona State’s overall scoring charts with a total of 1,611 points.

Xavier Humphrey added 12 points for the team while Taylor Cameron was able to put up 15 with four assists and five rebounds.

From the field, the team as a whole shot 53 percent, 26-of-49.

Saturday’s game proved to be an intense show down as Winona State fell to Augustana 81-78 in overtime.

Kellen, Taylor, Humphrey, Vette and Grant Johnson all scored double figures with ten points each.

Johnson became the second Warrior to reach 20 points and controlled ten rebounds. This was his first Winona State career double-double.

Vette added 23, making this his eighth game of 20 or more points in the last nine games. He was also able to grab eight rebounds.

The team hit 11 shots from behind the 3-point line. Humphrey sank three while Taylor and Vette each had two.

“It’s disappointing, we wanted to win this game against Augustana, but that didn’t happen, so we just have to be ready for Wednesday,” said Vette. “This team is all about looking forward and that’s what we have done and what we will do now.”

This loss was the chance for the Warriors to hold the NSIC title but instead the Minnesota State Mavericks, who were tied with the Warriors, claimed the championship with a record of 18-4 after they defeated Southwest Minnesota State, 85-75 on Saturday.

Last year, the team would have earned the title but it was stripped due to Johnson’s eligibility mix up.

Last season, the Warriors’ record was 25-5 overall and ended up losing to Southwest Minnesota State in second game of the tournament 64-69.

“It was rough because of what happened last year but what are you going to do?” said head coach Mike Leaf. “These boys played their hearts out and you can’t fault them. What more can you do? They gave it their all.”

“At the beginning of the season I told them that there was a ton of things we would like to do but you just have to take each challenge one step at a time.”

The Warriors finished the regular season 23-6 overall and 17-5 in NSIC play.

The team will host the University of Mary for the opening round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament Wednesday, Feb. 27. The tip off is set for 8 p.m. in McCown Gymnasium.

All Winona State men’s basketball games can be heard on 89.5 KQAL Radio and online at kqal.org. All games can also be seen on local Channel 25 on HBC.

To get more information about Winona State basketball visit www.winonastatewarriors.com.

Contact Erin at [email protected].