WINONA, Minn. – Junior Riley Bambenek buried a long range 3-point shot as time expired in overtime to give the Winona State men's basketball team a thrilling 72-71 win over Minnesota State Friday night in front of 1,402 fans in McCown Gymnasium.

Down two with five seconds left after the Mavericks' Joey Witthus missed the second of two free throws, Bambenek took the inbounds pass, stormed up the court, pulled up and rattled home the game-winner from eight-feet beyond the top of the arc to put the finishing touches on yet another classic between the two NSIC South Division rivals.

Bambenek finished with a season-high 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting and a 4-of-7 mark from 3-point range, but none bigger than the last one.

While Bambenek claimed the final heroics, it was a pair of big-time plays from redshirt freshman Charlie Koontz that kept the Warriors in the game. Just like in overtime, the Mavericks' Jalen Pendleton – who tied Bambenek with a game-high 25 points – missed the second of two free throws with 10 seconds to play in regulation, which allowed Kyle Bauman to grab the rebound and find Bambenek, who dished it down low to Koontz who put home the layup with two seconds to play to force overtime. The Warriors trailed for nearly the entire overtime period, but another missed free throw by Pendleton with under a minute to play kept it a two point game at 67-65. That set up Koontz' second big play of the day, as he grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a jumper to knot the score at 67-67 with 32 seconds to play. Pendleton then drove in for what would end up to be a 3-point play to put the Mavericks up 70-67 before Bambenek hit a pair of free throws to get it within one at 70-69 with six seconds to play to set the scene for the theatrics.

The victory - WSU's sixth in a row – pulls the Warriors even with the Mavericks for second place in the NSIC South Division with two games remaining.

The Warriors held a 31-26 lead at halftime, but a 12-0 MSU run in the second half down by eight – the largest of the game – at 45-37 with 10:42 to play. But the Warriors responded with a 9-2 run of their own capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers from the night's hero Bambenek to pull within 47-46 with 8:28 to play. Bambenek would hit another 3-pointer at the seven minute mark to bring WSU even at 49-49. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Bauman fueled another 8-0 run for the Warriors as it pulled ahead 57-53 with 3:27 to play, but aver a 7-0 run WSU would not lead again until the final buzzer.

Bauman recorded his fourth double-double of the season with a 15-point, 10-rebound effort on 6-of-10 shooting along with two blocks.

Winona State (13-10, 12-7 NSIC) returns to McCown Gym Saturday in the regular season home finale to take on Concordia-St. Paul at 6 p.m.