Dillon Hogan/ Winonan
Coming off of two home wins last weekend, the Winona State University men’s basketball team began a four-game road trip. The Warriors suffered losses Friday and Saturday against St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth, moving their overall record to an even 11-11 in the season.
After the weekend’s performances Winona State sophomore Isaiah Gray was named not only the Warrior Athlete of the Week, but the NSIC Southern Division’s Player of the Week. Gray posted a weekend average of 20.5 points and a shooting percentage of nearly 70.
In Friday’s first half against St. Cloud, the Warriors kept up with their opponent throughout a back-and-forth half. As a team, the Warriors shot a respectable 50 percent on 13-of-26 shooting. Gray scored 15 of his 19 total points of the game in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Winona State maintained pace with St. Cloud until the final six minutes of the half. With the score tied 25-25 the Huskies broke out on an 8-0 run and increased their lead to 12 points. Nick Arenz cut the Warrior’s deficit to nine points just before halftime to bring the score 39-30.
In the second half St. Cloud executed another 8-0 run to pull ahead 14 points, 53-39. The duo of Riley Bambenek and Gray responded with a 7-0 run for the Warriors, cutting their deficit 53-46 with less than ten minutes left to play.
St. Cloud was able to build back up to a 13-point lead over the Warriors. Despite a solid effort to match St. Cloud, Winona State was only able to get within nine points as the Huskies claimed their victory 65-56.
In the second half, Winona State struggled with the three-point shot, making three of 20 attempts. The team also shot 27 percent from the court in the second half. Turnovers also played their part in dooming the Warriors as the team committed 20 turnovers during the course of the game.
The game against St. Cloud continued the season-long road woes that the Warriors have faced. Following the game Winona State was taken to just one game above .500 and moved the team’s NSIC record to become a losing one at 8-9.
The team had no time to dwell on the loss against St. Cloud State as the team travelled to Duluth to play the next day.
As has been the story all year, the Warriors struggled for the win on the road. Getting behind early against Minnesota Duluth, Winona State was again unable to make the push necessary to take the lead. Duluth was able to keep the Warriors at bay and to take a 10-point lead into halftime with a score of 41-31.
A second-half run by Minnesota Duluth gave the team a 16-point lead early in the half. In response, Mohamed Ali Ben Ammar triggered a 12-point run for Winona State over seven minutes with three baskets in a row, followed by scores from Gray, Conrad Masberg and Mark Blacklock respectively. This run brought the Warriors to within four points, 62-58, with six minutes remaining.
A late-game run by Duluth in response to the Warrior’s run gave them the double-digit lead once again and sealed the game in favor of Duluth with a final score 76-63.
This loss was the ninth road loss of the season for Winona State, now 0-9 on the road and 11-2 at home. Saturday’s game against Minnesota Duluth was also marred by another night of poor three-point shooting going 2-13 from beyond the arc, despite posting a shooting percentage of 44.8 percent as a team. Winona State cut down its turnovers to six, a significant drop from the twenty committed the night before.
Blacklock led the Warriors against the Bulldogs with 18 points going 6-of-7 on shooting and 5-of-6 for free throws, a dramatic change from his scoreless performance against St. Cloud on Friday.
The team record in the NSIC is now at 8-10, which puts Winona State in tenth place in the league. The Warriors next take the court against Minnesota State and Concordia on Feb. 13 and Feb. 14, both of which are away games.
