Sat Mar 29 17:20:36 2008

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Winona State comes back from down 16 to win D-II title

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Springfield, MA (Sports Network) - This year Winona State was the beneficiary of a collapse, as the Warriors came back from down 16 in the second half to top Augusta State, 87-76, and win the Division II men's basketball championship.

Jonte Flowers scored 30 points -- 25 in the second half -- as Winona State won its second championship in three years, the only two titles in school history, and in the process erased the painful memories of its unbelievable loss in last year's title game.

Winona State led by seven points with 45 seconds left in the 2007 championship game, only to lose to Barton after a flurry of points and a last-second turnover that led to a buzzer-beating layup. This time it was the Warriors who erased a big deficit, but they didn't wait until the final minute.

John Smith scored 18 points, and Quincy Henderson had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Winona State (38-1) which set a D-II record for wins in a season. Travis Whipple scored 13 points for the Warriors, who vanquished two undefeated opponents -- Bentley and Grand Valley State -- on the road to the title game.

Tyrekus Bowman scored 26 points and had five rebounds for Augusta State (27-7), which was vying for the first sports championship in school history. Ben Madgen had 20 points and seven boards, and Garret Siler scored 20 points and grabbed five boards for the Jaguars, who had never advanced this far in the D-II tournament.

The Jaguars came storming out of the gates, and led by 12 at the half. The lead reached 16 points early in the second half, as a Siler dunk put the Warriors in a 48-32 hole with 19:12 left in regulation.

Winona State came storming back behind Flowers, though, as his layup with 17:04 left kicked off a 21-5 run, which he capped with a jumper that knotted the game at 58-58 with 10:10 left.

The teams were tied at 65-65 later in the half, but Winona State edged in front on a Ben Fischer layup with 5:50 to play. Another Fischer layup put the Warriors up 69-65, but a Steve Smith three brought the Jaguars within a point with 5:13 remaining.

Flowers answered with a three, though, spurring a 13-2 Winona State run that sealed the win. Two free throws by Fischer capped the run with 1:27 left, and this time the Warriors held on through the final minute to win the title.