Winona, Minn. –  The sixth-ranked Winona State Warriors shot 69.8 from the floor en route to a 85-63 victory over Minnesota State Friday evening in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men’s basketball action.

The loss comes despite a trio of Mavericks reaching double-digits in the scoring column, led by sophomore guard Jimmy Whitehead who scored a team-high 15 points.

“We have to start playing defense,” said head coach Matt Margenthaler.  “We gave them way too many easy looks tonight.”

Winona State shot 66.7 percent in the first half as it opened a 31-27 halftime advantage. The Maverick defense did its job in the first half however as twice it held the Warriors without a field goal for longer than four minutes, including the final four minutes and 46 seconds of the first half.

During that defensive stance for the Mavericks, MSU outscored the Warriors, 6-0, five of which were scored by freshman forward #Zach Romashko#.

Winona State opened the second half with a 14-8 run to push a ten-point lead at 45-35 lead with 14:57 remaining, prompting a MSU timeout.

From that point on, Winona State would play with a double-digit lead for the remaining of the game.

Whitehead scored his 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting while Romashko added 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting.  Sophomore forward #Connor O’Brien# added 12 points off the bench to go with a team-high seven rebounds.

As a team, MSU shot 46.4 percent from the floor.

Minnesota State (6-12, 5-8 NSIC) returns to action tomorrow night when it travels to Upper Iowa.  Gametime is set for 8 p.m.