COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – Clayton Vette was one of five Warriors in double figures as WSU opened its season with a 97-86 victory over UC-Colorado Springs Friday in Colorado Springs.

Vette scored 27 points on 7-of-10 shooting while grabbing 11 rebounds. Grant Johnson scored 17 points in his Winona State debut while Jon Walburg (14), CJ Erickson (12) and Zander Culver (10) also reached double digit scoring.

Winona State held a three point advantage at halftime and broke open a close game midway through the second half. Erickson gave WSU a 66-65 lead with 10:07 to play in the game, an advantage they would not give up. The one point advantage was stretched to ten with 4:11 to play and got as big as 14 in the closing minutes.

The Warriors shot 61 free throws on the game making 78.7 percent of their shots from the foul line. Vette made 13-of-16 free throws while Walburg was 9-for-11 and Erickson went 8-for-11 from the charity stripe. Six Warriors made at least four free throws on the day.

Winona State will complete its opening weekend when it plays No. 10 Metro State Saturday at 8 pm CST.