MARSHALL, Minn. – No. 16 Winona State held a 19-8 rebound advantage in the second half, including 11 offensive rebounds, to earn a hard-fought 79-72 victory Southwest Minnesota State on Friday night.

The victory was WSU's eight straight overall and improves to 9-1 overall, 4-0 NSIC.  SMSU drops to 4-5 overall, 3-2 NSIC.  It was also WSU's ninth straight victory over SMSU in Marshall and its 18th overall in the past 19 meetings since 2004.

Clayton Vette led all scorers with 22 points, four rebounds and four assists to pace the Warriors.  CJ Erickson added 18 points, including 12 in the second half.

Jordan Miller led SMSU with 16 points on 4 of 10 shooting with teammate Matt Zager adding 12 points.

WSU held a 74-72 lead with 57 seconds remaining following a field goal by SMSU's Vinard Birch.  On the following possession, WSU's Taylor Cameron missed a 3-point field goal, but Jon Walburg grabbed the offensive rebound and moments later scored while being fouled with 18 seconds left.  Walburg completed the three-point play to give WSU a 77-72 lead.

The game featured 12 lead changes and 11 ties.

The two teams played even in the opening minutes and were tied at 16 with 13 minutes and 55 seconds left in the first half before a pair of free throws by William Giddings and a field goal by Miller gave SMSU a 20-16 lead.

The first half saw five lead changes and was tied six times before SMSU used an 8-2 run late in the half to build its largest lead at 37-31 with 30 seconds remaining following a jumper by Michael Appel.

WSU's Grant Johnson hit two free throws to close the half and cut SMSU's lead to 37-33 at halftime.

Miller led SMSU with eight first half points, while Vette led WSU in the opening half with 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting.

The Warriors started the second half strong and regained the lead at 41-39 with 17 minutes left in the game.  WSU extended the lead to 52-47, before SMSU rallied and took its final lead with 10:15 left in the game at 53-52 on a layup by Zager. 

WSU answered with an 8-2 run in the next three minutes to take a 60-55 lead and never lost the lead again. 

Both teams shot well in the game, with WSU finishing at 51.7 percent (30 of 58) with six 3-pointers, while SMSU shot 49 percent (24 of 49) with five 3-pointers.

WSU outrebounded SMSU 30-25, limiting SMSU to just eight rebounds in the second half.

Southwest Minnesota State concludes its four-game homestand tomorrow night taking on Upper Iowa University (3-5, 0-4 NSIC) starting at 6 p.m.