The Warrior men lost Clayton Vette in the second exhibition game of the year in this young season. A couple of weeks later on the practice before leaving for South Dakota in Hoopsfest, CJ Erickson twisted his ankle and did not play in either the Crookston or Mankato game.
The Warriors played great against UM-Crookston and didn’t need either former Division 1 players, but both Clayton and CJ would have maybe made the difference for the Warrior men against the Mavericks.
The Warrior men were in the game the entire way but Pre-season Conference Player of the Year, Travis Nelson, was tough to handle in the paint in the second half. Lone senior David Johnson put up an eye-opening 31 points against Mankato but it wasn’t enough to defeat them.
The Warrior men will get one more shot at Mankato in January when they come to McCown Gym to face Winona State. By this time, hopefully the Warriors are healthy!
