Jan. 19, 2001

Winona State used marksmanlike shooting to escape Wachs Arena with a 97-84 win Friday night in Aberdeen. The win also solidified the Warriors hold as one of the top teams in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference as the league season nears its midpoint.

The Warriors (10-6 overall, 7-1 NSIC) shot 52 percent from the field for the game, including a deadly 50 percent (7-of-14) from 3-point range to earn another big win on the road. Six of WSU's first eight conference games were on the road, and the Warriors lost only one of those games (at Southwest State Dec. 30). With a 7-1 league mark and the balance of their conference season largely at home from here on out, the Warriors couldn't be looking much better going into the second half of the season.

NSU (7-8, 3-4) stuck with the Warriors all game, but were never able to get over the hump. The team's most serious push in the second half came on a 6-0 run that cut WSU's lead to 54-59, but the Warriors answered by scoring the next eight points to return their cushion to a comfortable 13 points with 10 minutes remaining. WSU's offense kept executing down the stretch and never let NSU back in the game.

NSU posted a very balanced effort offensively, with six players scoring in double digits. Juniors Drew Gruver (guard, Scott City, Kan.) and Brad Hansen (post, Tea). led the team in scoring with 16 points apiece. Hansen also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to end with his third double-double of the season. Gruver also dished out a game-high seven assists on the night. Sophomore guard Nick Schroeder (Plymouth, Minn.) scored 11 points for NSU, while Ben Dahl (senior post, Cottonwood, Minn.), Roland Williams (junior point guard, Ft. Worth, Texas), and Houston Reed (junior forward, Olathe, Colo.) scored 10 points apiece.

While NSU's numerous 3-point attempts (8-of-26) saw limited success, Winona attacked the rack and made a living at the free-throw line, going 28-of-34 from the stripe on the night. The Warriors also iced the game at the line, going 11-of-14 during the last two minutes of the game when the Wolves were forced to foul. NSU went 10-of-15 from the line on the night.

Northern will try to pull its overall and conference mark back to .500 tomorrow night against Concordia-St. Paul. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. after the women's game in NSU's Barnett Center.