Dillon Hogan/Winonan

The Winona State men’s basketball team began its four-game home stand with victories over St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth Feb 14 and 15. Coming into the weekend tied for first place atop the NSIC, the Warriors were looking to keep the success going.

Against St. Cloud State, the Warriors had the hot hand, shooting 55 percent from the field. This marks the fourth straight game the Warriors have shot better than 50 percent and the 15th time this season.

The Warriors jumped ahead early against St. Cloud behind Riley Bambenek who scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes. At halftime the Warriors led St. Cloud by a score of 42-27 behind a first-half shooting percentage of 51.6.

The second half saw the Warriors perform better than the opening half. A shooting percentage of 59 helped to propel the Warriors ahead of St. Cloud by as much as 23 points on multiple occasions.

The Warriors used these two stellar halves to take down St. Cloud State by a score of 89-68 to move them to 21-5 overall and 16-3 in the NSIC.

Leading the Warrior offense was Bambenek who led all scorers in the game with 21 points on 8-13 shooting. Joining him with double-digit scoring were Isaiah Gray who scored 16 points, and Kellen Taylor with ten.

Taylor also snagged 11 rebounds and dished out eight assists to give him his eighth double-double for the season.

The bench played their part in the game with Nick Arenz, adding nine points with Kyle Bauman and Conrad Masberg each putting up eight of their own.

As a team the offense was protective of the ball, only turning it over two times while handing out 16 assists.

Following the win over St. Cloud State, the Warriors faced Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. A slow first half made way for a second half comeback to give the Warriors the win over Duluth.

After the first half, the Warriors found themselves in recently unfamiliar territory as they were down by six to Duluth. In the second half a fast start cut the Duluth lead entirely and tied the game at 48 with a layup by Bauman.

Josh Mongan nailed a 3-pointer on the very next possession to give the Warriors the three-point lead and would be the final lead change of the game.

The defenses of both teams played an integral part in the final stretch of the game as Gray made the final field goal of the game with over six minutes left in the game, giving Winona a 66-60 lead.

A pair of free throws by Duluth narrowed the Warrior lead to four with over four minutes followed by another set of free throws at 1:09 to again lower the Warrior lead to two.

On the final possession for the Warriors a missed 3-pointer gave Duluth a final chance to either take the lead or tie the game.

Stout defense by the Warriors forced Duluth to take a heavily-contested long shot that missed to give the Warriors the 68-64 victory.

Gray was the leading scorer for the Warriors with 16 points, while Bauman scored a career high with 16 points and also tallied four blocks on the night.

The third and final double-digit scorer for the Warriors was Mark Blacklock, who put up 11 points with four rebounds.

The Warriors are now 22-5 overall and have a 17-3 record in the NSIC. Their 22 victories now tie for the ninth-most wins in a season and is the third straight year the Warriors have reached at least 22 wins.

Winona State will conclude the regular season next weekend, hosting Wayne State Feb. 21 and Augustana Feb. 22.