Erin Cochran/Winonan

The Winona State men’s basketball team won against the University of Mary 77-64 on Friday but was knocked out of the NSIC/Sanford Tournament when they fell to the Bemidji State Beavers on Saturday, 74-72.

At the half on Friday against the Mary, the Warriors trailed by one, 34-33.

The Warriors started the second half strong, scoring ten points and outscoring their opponent 34-9 in the first 13 minutes of the period.

With just under eight minutes to play, the Warriors brought the lead to as much as 24 points.

Clayton Vette scored 18 points with 13 rebounds. Xavier Humphrey and Grant Johnson scored 12 points and Taylor Cameron had 13.

On defense, the Warriors held Mary to just 39 percent shooting overall and 29 percent from behind the 3-point line. Zander Culver had three steals while Cameron had four.

“This game gave us a sense of confidence going into Saturday,” said Johnson. “Who knows what will happen against Bemidji but we’re going to try our hardest and try to play the best we can and with all our ability.”

This 77-64 victory held the record of the Warriors winning at least one game in the NSIC Tournament in ten consecutive seasons.

On Saturday, the team fell to the Bemidji State Beavers by just two points in the second round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament, with a final score of 74-72.

At the half, the team trailed by nine but took back the lead with 9:28 remaining in play.

The game continued to teeter back and forth six times with no more of an advantage than four points.

With just two minutes of play, a missed shot by Bemidji gave the Warriors an opening to tie the game but in an attempt to drive the lane, Humphrey missed the shot solidifying the Beavers’ victory.

“We missed some pretty crucial shots and made it easy for them to sweep in and make the shots they needed to,” said Vette. “Those free throws and missed shots can’t happen and by missing them, Bemidji was able to make up for where we lacked.”

Vette went 8-of-12 on the night, marking the 11th consecutive game where the senior reached 20 points this season.

“Our execution just really wasn’t there,” said Vette. “It’s times like these where it doesn’t matter how hard or how well we’ve played throughout the season, this was the time to get that done and unfortunately we didn’t.”

On defense, the Warriors only gave away four turnovers, a season low.

“I think overall we did a good job just we just didn’t end it on the right way,” said Cameron.

By losing to Bemidji, the Warriors won’t host the NCAA Central Region Tournament even if they’re one of eight teams playing in the tournament.

“It was such a great opportunity to play in front of all the supporting fans here at home,” said Zander Culver. “Hopefully we’ll get the opportunity to represent the great fans on the road.”

Bemidji and Upper Iowa are now the top two seeds in the NSIC standings now that the Warriors and the St. Cloud State Huskies got knocked out.

Only the top teams in the divisions receive automatic bids to the tournament so the team will just have to wait to see what their fate will be. Based upon the season and top rankings they shared with Minnesota State Mankato, the results could go either way.

Winona State’s record is 24-7 this season. The NCAA Division II Regional Tournament brackets will be announced March 10.

Contact Erin at [email protected].