Warriors Upset Viterbo to Advance in NSAA Conference Tournament Semi-Finals

The Waldorf men's basketball started NSAA Conference Tournament play against Viterbo. The Warriors split with them during the regular season. This is the first time the Warriors won the opening round in conference tournament play since the 2019-2020 season, where they went on to play in the finals.

"I am so proud of these guys. We played an outstanding first half starting from the tip we were locked in defensively and we shot it really well," Head Coach Nigel Jenkins stated.

Noah Miller (SO/Forest City, IA) opened the game making a three-pointer. The V-Hawks responded by scoring back-to-back points to take the lead 3-4. That was the only lead the V-Hawks had. 

Khalil Grayson (SO/Milwaukee, WI) scored four points and Zack Meyer (JR/Spring Hill, FL) drained a three to extend the lead 10-4. 

Tyree'on Johnson (SR/Coon Rapids, MN) made a layup and Meyer grabbed a steal that turned into a three by Grayson. The V-Hawks scored to bring the game back within four points which forced a Waldorf timeout. 

Out of the timeout, Grayson made his second three of the night. Washington kept the momentum going with a three of his own.

Johnson came up big with a block, grabbed an offensive rebound, and put back and Justin Wiggins (SO/West Palm Beach, FL) made a three to give the Warriors a 26-13 lead. 

With just under five minutes left in the first half, Wiggins forced a V-Hawk turnover with a steal and Miller made a three to give the Warriors their biggest lead of the half, 43-18.

The V-Hawks closed out the first half by scoring eight straight points. Going into the second half, the Warriors were up 43-26.

Meyer scored two and Miller added three more to give the Warriors their first points of the second half. 

Viterbo brought the game back within 10 points with 13 minutes remaining. 

Miller drained a three and Johnson scored a layup to extend their lead to 13 before the V-Hawks made a three of their own. 

Halfway through the second half, the V-Hawks made a layup and two free-throws to bring the game to single digits, the Warriors were up 57-51.

"The 2^nd half, our shots didn't fall, and Viterbo made one heck of a run on us," said Jenkins. "They got the free throw line and chipped away at us, but our defense carried us when it got close."

Fredery Cuello (JR/New York, NY) made a three and Johnson had to blocks on defense back-to-back. The V-Hawks scored a layup with five minutes left in the game to make the score 64-59.

Viterbo scored their last points of the game with a three. Waldorf closed out the game winning 72-62.

Johnson recorded a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds, with nine blocks, and seven assists. Miller finished with a team-high of 16 points and Grayson added 12. Washington added 11 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Off the bench, Wiggins had 11 points and nine rebounds.

"Ty Johnson was outstanding and played like a senior tonight. Back to work tomorrow against a really tough Dickinson State team," Jenkins stated.

The Warriors advance to the semi-finals for a matchup against number three seed Dickinson State on Saturday, Feb. 25^th at 8 p.m. in Watertown, South Dakota. Waldorf split with Dickinson State in the regular season.