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It Is A Third Straight Trip To Elite Eight Finals!

Story by: Winona State Sports Information Office


SPRINGFIELD, MA -- It is a third straight trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight championship game for Winona State University!

The No. 3-ranked Warriors struggled again in the first half of play, but bounced back in the second half and went on to record an 86-75 win over No. 1-ranked Bentley, MA at the Mass Mutual Center.

Winona State will now meet Augusta State Univesity, GA in the championship game Saturday, March 29. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. EDT.

It marks the second straight game the Warriors have knocked off an unbeaten team. Bentley came into the contest with a 34-0 record, while in the quarterfinal round WSU disposed of Grand Valley State University, MI which had come into the tournament with a 36-0 mark.

It was the second time in back-to-back Elite Eight tournaments that Winona State had defeated Bentley when the Falcons were undefeated. In the 2007 Elite Eight quarterfinal round, both teams met in the fourth game of the opening round and each had unblemished records.

With the continued success of the Warriors, records continue to come WSU's way as the Warriors improve to 37-1 on the year and set a NCAA Division II single-season record for most wins in a season.

Winona State started the game by scoring the first five points. But Bentley responded and eventually built its biggest lead of the night at nine points, 34-25, with 2:58 left in the half. From that point the first half would come to end with Bentley leading 36-30.

Just like in this year's opening-round game with Grand Valley State, WSU trailed at half (that was only by five points) and then came out in the second half to cut into the lead quickly. David's Johnson's three-point field goal and a layup by John Smith brought the Warriors back to within one at 36-35 just 48 seconds into the period.

From there the two teams battled back and forth until WSU finally took the lead at 48-47 on Jonte Flowers jump shot at 13:56.

WSU then built a cushion for itself that the Falcons never really could overcome, as Quincy Henderson connected on a three-pointer and Johnson converted an old fashion three-point play for a 59-54 WSU lead at the 8:42 mark.

Winona State kept is lead at five to seven points until down the stretch when Bentley was forced to foul and the Warriors made eight of ten free throw attempts for their final score and their biggest lead of the night.

Winona State finished with four starters in double figures, led by the game-high 22 points from John Smith. Flowers followed with 20, Henderson tallied 17 and Johnson came up with 16.

(Boxscore)

Last Modified: Thursday, March 27, 2008 23:13 by Michael Herzberg