For the second time in three years, the Winona State University men’s basketball team gathered in a celebratory mosh pit near mid-court.
Wearing championship hats and t-shirts, Jonte Flowers and John Smith hugged, slapping each other’s backs. Travis Whipple screamed in jubilation, whipping his towel wildly above his head. Quincy Henderson, eyes closed and smiling, raised his right hand in the air, his index finger pointing upward.
For the second time in three years, the WSU fans celebrating in the stands belted out a chant that resonated throughout the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass.
“We’re No. 1!”
The Warriors won their second NCAA Division II national championship in three years Saturday afternoon, storming back from a 16-point deficit for an 87-76 victory over Augusta State (Ga.).
“I’m very proud of the guys,” WSU coach Mike Leaf said. “And we had such a great crowd out there. Our guys flew or drove or rode on a bus for 20-some hours. I’m really proud to bring the championship back to Winona and back to the state of Minnesota. The people there are just awesome.”
The Warriors (38-1) won the national title in 2006 and suffered a heart-breaking loss in the final seconds to Barton (N.C.) last season.
The 10-point halftime deficit that Barton overcame to defeat WSU ranked second all-time in NCAA DII title games — until Saturday.
The Warriors trailed at halftime in every game of the Elite Eight. WSU overcame a five-point deficit to beat Grand Valley State (Mich.) 67-54 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday and survived a six-point halftime disadvantage to defeat Bentley (Mass.) 86-75 in the semifinals on Thursday.
Saturday provided a more extreme instance, as the Warriors trailed ASU by 12 at the intermission. Coming into the game, WSU’s largest halftime deficit of the season was 10 points, which came at MSU-Moorhead on Jan. 11 in a game WSU won 64-59.
WSU made its first five shots from the field and opened with a 13-9 lead going into the game’s first media timeout.
From there, the Jaguars torched the normally stingy WSU defense, making 15 of their next 20 shots from the floor.
In the first half, ASU played undoubtedly its best basketball of the Elite Eight, despite the fact that 6-foot-11, 304-pound Garret Siler played just eight minutes because of foul trouble. The junior center made 19 of his 27 attempts from the field over the Jaguars’ wins over Central Oklahoma and Alaska-Anchorage in the Elite Eight, shooting 70.6 percent — a number that was actually down from his NCAA-leading 76.6 percent mark from the floor over the regular season.
All-American Tyrekus Bowman stepped up in Siler’s absence, scoring 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting. And sophomore forward Ben Madgen, who was just 5-for-21 from the field over ASU’s previous two games, including a horrendous performance Thursday against Alaska-Anchorage in which he missed all eight of his shot attempts, scored 14 first-half points on 5-of-7 shooting.
WSU meanwhile, was struggling on both ends of the floor.
After making its first five shots, WSU missed 18 of its next 24. Having difficulty getting good position and shots against the much bigger and more physical Siler, Smith attempted just two field goals and made one — a 3-pointer. Siler’s presence in the post and ASU’s 2-3 zone defense, which they implemented after the first media timeout, forced WSU to play from the perimeter. The Warriors chucked up 15 3-pointers in the first half and scored just four points in the paint. ASU, on the other hand, finished with 28 points in the paint.
Coming out of the locker room, the Jaguars picked up where they left off.
ASU hit four of its first five shots — all scored in the paint — and took its largest lead of the afternoon at 53-37 on a three-point play by Siler with 17:26 remaining. The 16-point deficit was the largest of the season for the Warriors, who trailed MSUM by 15 with 18:29 remaining on Jan. 11.
From there, however, things changed dramatically.
In front of a national television audience, Smith showed his versatility. Freshman guard Ben Fischer showed his athleticism and hustle. Henderson and Whipple showed their leadership and experience. Flowers showed his big-game ability and why he’s arguably the best guard in the country. And Leaf showed why he’s arguably the best Division II coach in the nation, developing a plan of attack for the second half that paid huge dividends.
Since Smith was having problems scoring against Siler in the post, and since WSU probably couldn’t come back without penetrating the paint, Leaf instituted an offense in which Smith was set up near the free-throw line.
The move forced ASU’s zone defense to collapse, allowing Smith to find open teammates. When the Jaguars switched back to a man-to-man, the move forced Siler away from the basket and opened up the lane, allowing Flowers to run amok. It also transformed Siler’s biggest strength — his size — into a huge weakness.
With Smith setting screens on top for or handing the ball off to Flowers, Leaf’s game plan exposed Siler’s lack of speed and athletic ability.
The Warriors’ comeback started with three consecutive baskets — all in the paint — by Flowers before Smith cut the deficit to single digits on a 3-pointer.
WSU scored on its next four possessions, capping a 12-0 run and tying the game on a jumper from the elbow by Flowers with 10:07 remaining. Two minutes and twenty-eight seconds later, Henderson fired a jump-pass from the corner to Smith at the far wing. Smith drilled the 3, giving the Warriors their first lead since they held a 13-11 advantage 5:17 into the game.
Bowman answered with a jumper from the baseline, and Henderson missed a 3-pointer on the next WSU possession, but Fischer flew down the lane from the top of the key, leaped, and tipped in the rebound.
WSU didn’t trail again.
Flowers, the all-time DII leader in career steals, recorded a theft on the other end. He lost control of the ball in midair and missed the layup, but Fischer, who had sprinted down the floor from behind, put back the rebound for a four-point lead with 5:33 remaining.
ASU’s Steve Smith drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut WSU’s lead to one. But Flowers wouldn’t allow a comeback, answering with a 3-pointer from the left wing.
On the ensuing Jaguars possession, Smith tipped away an entry pass intended for Siler into the hands of Fischer. On the other end, Flowers drilled another 3 to give WSU a 75-68 lead with 3:57 remaining.
Just over two minutes later, Whipple corralled an offensive rebound and kicked it into the corner to Henderson. The senior forward swished the 3, putting the Warriors up 80-70 with 2:06 left and finalizing WSU’s dramatic comeback.
“There’s been a number of times in really big games that we’ve been down — even in this tournament we’ve done that,” Smith said. “I don’t even know if it’s been 12 points, but we keep our composure. We’ve been down, but this team never gives up. That’s been the story the last three years.”
Smith finished with 18 points on 5-of-12 shooting, including a 4-for-4 mark from beyond the arc — setting career-highs for single-game 3-pointers attempted and made.
“He had the green light all year, but he just wouldn’t shoot it,” Leaf said. “He does it more in practice, and he actually makes quite a few of them, but he has some blockage in his mind and he wouldn’t do it.”
Smith attempted just 24 3-pointers over his first three years at WSU. Coming into Saturday, he was 15-for-45 on the season.
“I don’t know — I can’t explain it,” Smith said. “I just felt it today, and it needed to be done.”
Flowers, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, finished with a game-high 30 points — 25 coming in the second half — on 11-of-22 shooting. He also added four assists and four steals.
“This one means a lot because this was my last game at Winona,” Flowers said. “It was the last time playing with all these guys. To come out on top means a lot to me. It’s a memory I’ll carry with me forever.”
Henderson had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Fischer scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, recorded two key steals late in the game and added nine rebounds — six offensive.
Whipple scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting and added four assists and two steals. He was WSU’s leading scorer going into halftime with eight points and was the one who created and produced offense early on when Flowers and Smith were on the bench with two fouls.
“To be able to get those rebounds and those offensive boards makes a huge difference,” Leaf said. “We have a lot of guys who do the little things that make the difference. The things they do may not show up in the scoring column, but those guys came up big for us.”
While Whipple and Fischer will return next year and attempt to defend the title, seniors Henderson, Smith, Flowers and Brent Riese each played their last game for WSU.
“It’s been a rollercoaster ride,” Smith said. “We’ve had some ups and downs. I’m just glad we ended going up.”
There were more ups than downs for the seniors, including three national title game appearances, two national championships and a 105-6 record over the past three seasons.
While Flowers, Henderson, Riese and Smith went out on top and to the appropriate chant of “We’re No. 1”, the WSU fans showered down another, perhaps more fitting, phrase from the stands at the MassMutual Center:
“Thank you, seniors!”