Winona State Out-Battles Bentley to Earn 3rd
Straight Trip
to National Championship Game, 86-75
Information Provided By Bentley Sports Information
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The two winningest programs in
men’s college basketball over the last two seasons, Bentley
and Winona State, battled in the NCAA Division II national
semifinals Thursday night before a crowd of 4,019 at the MassMutual
Center, and in the end, Winona State had punched its ticket for a
third straight trip to the title game and handed the Falcons their
only loss of the season.
A bevy of Warrior free throws in the final minute produced a
somewhat deceptive final score, 86-75. Up until that point, the two
clubs, a combined 138-4 over the last two seasons, had never been
separated by more than nine points.
Winona State, which set a Division II record for wins in a season
with its 37th in 38 games and is only three points away from having
a 96-game winning streak, will advance to Saturday’s national
championship game against Augusta State, a 56-50 winner of
Alaska-Anchorage earlier Thursday night.
It was the second straight year that Bentley has suffered its only
loss of the season to the powerful Warriors in the Elite Eight.
After posting a 32-1 record last year, the Falcons closed out their
campaign at 34-1, setting school, conference and region records for
wins in a season.
“We have a team that is good enough to win the national
championship,” said Bentley head coach Jay Lawson.
“We’ve only lost to Winona in our last 68 games. They
didn’t beat slouches today.”
For most of the first half, it appeared the Bentley might be headed
for a first-ever berth in the title game. The Falcons led by as
many as nine late, 34-25, and took a 36-30 advantage into
intermission.
That lead was built on teamwork, one of the Falcons’
trademarks all season. Eight different players scored and seven
collected at least one rebound. Bentley shot 52 percent in the
half, but hurt itself with an uncharacteristic nine turnovers.
Winona scored the first five points of the second half to get back
within one, and the game stayed tight. The Warriors took their
first lead since early in the first on a runner by Jonte Flowers
with 13:54 left, and the lead changed hands three more times in the
next couple minutes.
A long two-point jumper by Bentley senior All-America Nate Fritsch
(Durham, N.C./Woodberry Forest HS) gave the Falcons a 51-50
advantage with 12 minutes left, and it was extended to 54-50 at the
midpoint of the second.
A quick 9-0 explosion by Winona, featuring six points by David
Johnson and one of four second-half treys by Quincy Henderson, put
the 2006 national champions up five, 59-54, and Bentley never was
able to catch up.
Another key stretch came after Fritsch converted a three-point play
with 5:52 left, drawing the Falcons within two, 65-63. All-America
center John Smith made the first of two free throws and Flowers,
also an All-America, snuck in for the offensive rebound on the
second and laid it in. Two more free throws by Flowers and one by
Henderson made it an eight-point game, 71-63 with 4:01
remaining.
A lay-up by Falcon freshman guard Tom Dowling (Rockville Centre,
N.Y./South Side HS) with 1:39 left brought Bentley back within
four, 75-71, but Henderson countered with a three-ball from the
corner. Eight Winona free throws in the waning seconds accounted
for the 11-point final spread.
Fritsch and junior guard Lew Finnegan (Lexington/Lexington HS) led
the Falcons in scoring with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Dowling
added 15 points off the bench, and senior point guard Yusuf
Abdul-Ali (Springfield/New Leadership Charter School) finished with
10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sophomore guard Jason
Westrol (Brielle, N.J./Manasquan HS) was limited to eight points in
22 foul-plagued minutes.
Smith led all scorers with 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting, and also
dished out four assists. Flowers followed with 20 and Henderson
added 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Both teams shot very well, with Bentley having the slight edge
(53-51 percent), but Winona connected at a 61.5 percent clip in the
second half while also living at the line (23 attempts against the
team that leads the country in fewest fouls).
It was the final career game for Fritsch and Abdul-Ali, two major
reasons why Bentley has been 117-17 over the last four seasons, and
an incredible 66-2 the last two.
In the postgame press conference, Fritsch said “Speaking on
behalf of Yusuf and myself, we were incredibly lucky to be at
Bentley. We were both recruited late, and to end up at a place like
Bentley where the players care as much and the coaches kill
themselves, I feel very lucky.”