Adam Kirk / Winonan

In the second game of the season, the Winona State University men’s basketball team beat in-town rival Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota 90-52 on Monday, Nov. 21 for their second game in the newly-renovated McCown Gymnasium.

Senior Kyle Bauman had a game-high 17 points and added seven rebounds to lead the Warriors for the second straight game.

“Kyle had a very productive junior year for us,” head coach Todd Eisner said. “We are counting on him to have another season similar, if not better, than last year. We will need Kyle to be an important player again for us to have a chance to be successful.”

Senior Riley Bambenek scored 15 points while knocking down three 3-pointers. Coach Eisner expects Bauman and Bambenek to have key roles in the offense this season.

“I think we have a good one-two scoring combination with Kyle and Riley. Riley has shown an ability to score all three years he has played at WSU. We are hopeful that both of these seniors will have consistently productive senior seasons,” Eisner said.

The Warriors shot above 55 percent as a team with six players scoring in double figures. They also took advantage of their size as they out-rebounded the Cardinals 50 to 25.

Eisner said, “We got a lot of easy baskets near the rim either in transition or the half court. When teams get shots in close, your field goal percentage should be high. So we did a good job of using our size advantage in a positive way.”

Statistically, the Winona State defense dominated Saint. Mary’s, holding them below 30 percent shooting and forcing 17 turnovers. The Cardinals’ starters scored 17 points compared to 60 from the Warrior starters. However, Eisner does not think the stats are telling the real story.

“We have to improve in all facets on defense to be as competitive as we want to be in NSIC games. For our team to have a chance to be successful we will need to make major improvements defensively,” Eisner said.

Sophomore Connor Flack, who missed the previous game against University of Wisconsin-Stout, came back to score 13 points. He scored six points early in the first half to give Winona a 10-point lead as the Warriors began to separate themselves from the Cardinals.

Sophomore Tommy Gathje added 10 points with seven rebounds and senior Isaiah Gray scored 11 with three assists for the Warriors. Junior James Cullen of Saint Mary’s came off the bench to score 14 points.

Saint Mary’s declared the game an exhibition match, while Winona State declared it as regular season game and moved 2-0 on the season.

Eisner said, “This weekend’s tournament at Kentucky Wesleyan will be a better gauge as to where we are and what we need to improve on. KWC may be one of the best teams we face all year.”

The Warriors took third place in the Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic after losing to the Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers 77-61 on Friday, Nov. 25, and beating the Carson-Newman University Eagles the following day.

In their first game, Winona State led until late in the first half when Kentucky Wesleyan took the lead 25-23. The Panthers extended their lead to eight before halftime and did not look back. They would go up by as many as 19 points in the second half while outshooting the Warriors 52-35.7 percent.

On Saturday, Bauman and Bambenek led the Warrior attack again as they each scored 19 points to give the team a 73-69 victory.

The Warriors finished with a season-low of nine turnovers and held a shooting advantage of 45 percent to 41 percent over the Eagles.

The Warriors begin NSIC play Friday, Dec. 2 against University of Sioux Falls in Winona.

-By Adam Kirk