Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

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Men’s basketball falls in semifinal matchup

Junior forward Kyle Bauman scores on a hook shot against Minot State Wednesday in Winona. The Warriors defeated the Beavers 94-75 to open the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament. (Photo by Jacob Striker)
Junior forward Kyle Bauman scores on a hook shot against Minot State Wednesday in Winona. The Warriors defeated the Beavers 94-75 to open the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament. (Photo by Jacob Striker)

Reid Peters / Winonan

After making it through the regular season, the Winona State University men’s basketball team opened the first two rounds of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament with a pair of victories over Minot State University and Northern State University last week before falling to Augustana University Monday evening.

The Warriors defeated Minot State 94-75 on Wednesday night in Winona.

The Beavers attained their largest lead of the night after two 3-pointers put them up 20-16 with 10 minutes left in the half. The Warriors answered back with a 13-2 burst and maintained the lead for the rest of the half, entering the break  ahead 39-38.

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Minot State jumped out to a 9-3 run early in the second half to give them a 47-45 lead, but senior guard Conrad Masberg would follow with five straight points to give the Warriors a three point advantage and the eventual 94-75 victory.

Junior forward Kyle Bauman matched a career- high in points with 25 on 11-of-15 shooting to go along with nine rebounds. Junior guard Isaiah Gray ended up with 21 on 6-of-9 shooting with six assists.

Bauman said the entire roster is in sync.

“We’re clicking on all cylinders right now,” Bauman said. “Any one of the guys can come out a perform well.”

Five Warriors score in double-figures to go along with Bauman and Gray including Jeffs with 13, Masberg with 10 and Bambenek with 10.

Winona State head coach Todd Eisner said he was pleased with the offensive performance.

“I was happy with our balanced scoring,” Winona State head coach Todd Eisner said.

The Warriors found themselves in the middle of another tight game three days later against Northern State.

Winona State trailed for much of the first half, but a Bambenek 3-pointer with 3:45 to go put the Warriors up 29-28. Another Bambenek three and a three from redshirt first-year Charlie Koontz put them up 37-32 to end the half.

Northern State answered in the second half with a 10-0 run, but Bambenek hit key baskets with 49 seconds left to put the Warriors up 68-62.

Northern State hit back-to-back threes to follow, which tied things up with three seconds to play.

With the game tied at 68 apiece, first-year guard Connor Flack hit two free throws with two seconds left to give the Warriors a 70-68 win.

Masberg said the team had the effort this weekend.

“We definitely played hard both nights,” Masberg said.

Bambenek led the Warriors in scoring with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Bauman chipped in with a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

In the semifinals on Monday, the Warriors took on Augustana, a team that carried with them a 26-2 record overall.

The Vikings started the game with the first six points but Winona State answered with a 6-0 run of its own to tie the game up.

The Warriors took its first lead of the night on a 3-pointer by senior forward Nick Arenz and built a seven-point advantage by the 10-minute mark.

The score bounced back-and-forth the remainder of the first half as the scoreboard read 34-30 in favor of Augustana at halftime.

The Vikings increased their lead in the second half, making it 39-30 with 19:12 remaining.

Winona State cut the deficit to one, 43-42, on a 3-pointer by Jeffs before taking the lead again after a basket by Bauman with 15:23 left in the game.

The Warriors used a 5-0 run over the next three minutes to make it 50-45, but Winona State would not lead again. Augustana outscored the Warriors 38-12 the rest of the game for the 83-62 final.

Bauman led the way with 17 points while Jeffs chipped in with eight points and Flack had nine.

Winona State concludes the season with a 16-13 record overall, including a 13-9 mark in the NSIC conference.

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