ANAHEIM, Calif. – Seventh-ranked Winona State canned seven 3-pointers and shot better than 59 percent from the field in building a 37-26 halftime lead and held UNCP at bay the rest of the way out en route to a 70-56 win over the Braves on Sunday morning at the Disney West Coast Tip Off Classic in the Anaheim Arena.

The loss officially put a close to an eight-day, five-game west coast road trip for UNCP (1-2) who successfully opened its season with a win over Northern State on Friday in Anaheim. Winona State (3-0), who returned four starters off of last season's 25-5 club, has now won each of its first three games for the third-straight season.

The Braves got double-figure scoring efforts from two players, including senior Shahmel Brackett who tallied a team-high 12 points. George Blakeney chipped in 11 points and five rebounds, while Ben Jacobs added eight points and five boards for the Braves as well.

The Warriors got a game-best 22 points from Clayton Vette, while Zander Culver registered 17 and Xavier Humphrey contributed 11. Jordan Fischer chipped in five points, six rebounds and five assists for WSU as well. The Warriors finished the game with 11 3-pointers and shot 57.1 percent from the field, including a 52.4 percent effort from the perimeter.

UNCP whittled an 11-point halftime deficit down to seven just 90 seconds into the second half, but that's the closest the Braves would get. Winona State led by as much as 14 points, 46-32, with 15 minutes to play and led by less than double digits just once the rest of the way out.

A back-and-forth contest for the first four minutes of action, Caleb Palkert's short jumper at the 16:17 mark sparked Winona State on a 12-2 run over the next six minutes that gave the Warriors a 19-6 edge midway through the stanza. The Warriors would stretch their lead to 15 points with 48 seconds remaining before the intermission, but took a modest 37-26 advantage into the locker rooms following after buckets by both Brackett and Blakeney in the final 28 seconds of the opening period.

UNCP will be back in action again on November 20 when the Braves make the short trip up U.S. 74 to battle region rival Wingate (1-1). Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Cuddy Arena.