Box Score St. Paul, Minn. --- The Winona State men’s basketball team – seeded fifth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health men’s basketball tournament – used a 21-6 run in the middle of the second half to turn a 47-39 deficit into a 82-74 victory over the top-seeded, Minnesota State in front of a capacity crowd of 2,781 in the Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia University.

The loss moves Minnesota State to 25-4 on the season and the
Mavericks will now await word on their postseason destiny tomorrow evening as the NCAA releases its bracket at 9 p.m., CST. The Mavericks will host a viewing party at the downtown Buffalo Wild Wings location tomorrow evening and fans are invited to for a social beginning at 8 p.m.

“We didn’t do a lot of the little things today,” said head coach Matt Margenthaler. “We got beat on the boards – especially the offensive glass – and that hurt us.”

Winona State finished the game outrebounding MSU 36-23, including 15-7 on the offensive end, turning those 15 opportunities into 16 points.
Winona State opened the game with a lead as large as 17-9 with 12:22 remaining before embarked on a 10-0 run thanks in part to five points by seniors Jefferson Mason and Marcus Hill giving the Mavericks a 19-17 lead.

The Warriors would tie it on the ensuing possession before the Maverick defense took over. Over the ensuing six minutes and 40 seconds, the Mavericks limited WSU to just two field goals while opening a lead as large as eight at 31-25 with 2:39 remaining. From that point on, both teams traded baskets as MSU took a 35-31 lead into the break.

Hill led all scorers in the first half with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-4 from downtown. As a squad, MSU hit on 56.5 percent of its chances while limiting the Warriors to 41.9.

Minnesota State held a lead for the first 6:08 of the second half until WSU’s Xavier Humphrey drilled a three from the right wing to tie it at 47.

Following a WSU timeout, the Warriors embarked on a 21-6 run to push a 65-53 lead with 5:15 remaining following a three from Jon Walburg. From that point on, the Warriors maintained control of the game.

The Mavericks were led in scoring by Hill who finished with 28 points, tying his career-high on 10-of18 shooting, including 3-of-6 from downtown. Senior guard Cameron Hodges added 17 points and seven rebounds while Mason finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Minnesota State finished the contest shooting 47.1 from the floor while the Warriors hit on 49.1.

To view the game stats, click HERE



Marcus Hill talks about the game: