WINONA, Minn. – Wayne State College stunned the Warrior faithful inside McCown Gymnasium Saturday night by hitting an improbable buzzer-beater to force overtime before ultimately dispatching of Winona State University on its home court in the extra frame, 82-80.
In a wild finish, the Wildcats negated what looked to be a sure game-winning layup by Devin Whitelow with 1.7 seconds left in regulation. Wayne State's ensuing in-bounds attempt went out of bounds off WSU and left just 0.4 ticks left on the clock for the Wildcats. However, this time Wayne State was able to in-bound from its own end and Vance Janssen lofted a perfect pass to Ben Dentlinger for a layup to knot the score and force overtime.
Kevion Taylor accounted for all five of Winona State's points in the extra period, as the Warriors went just 2-8 in overtime with three turnovers. Taylor hit a go-ahead three to begin the frame and a runner in the lane to tie the score at 80-apiece with 1:34 remaining. The teams traded missed field goals from there before Whitelow was whistled for a tough foul with 2.5 seconds left on the clock and Janssen sunk both his free throws for the Wildcat win.
The tightly-contested conference matchup went back-and-forth for the duration of the night and featured a dozen ties and 12 different lead changes on the scoreboard. Similarly, each side's largest lead of the night was of eight points and came at almost identical times in the opposing halves; Wayne State (1st Half, 7:20) and Winona State (2nd Half; 7:45).
Mason Domask, Tommy Gathje, Dalante Peyton and Taylor each drilled three-pointers in a two-minute span in the second half which led to the Warriors' biggest lead of the night.
The Warriors and Wildcats traded the lead four times over the final two minutes of regulation. Janssen gave Wayne State a 71-68 edge with a jumper at the 1:07 mark before Whitelow quickly slashed into the lane on the other end to make it a one-point game. After a defensive stop by WSU, Caleb Wagner got into the paint for a bucket to give the home team a 72-71 lead with 25 seconds remaining.
Janssen continued his torrid finish for Wayne State by connecting on a jumper with nine seconds left as the Wildcats regained a 73-72 advantage. Whitelow then made a mad dash down the far sideline and into the lane for another go-ahead basket before converting the and-one at the line with 1.7 seconds remaining to set up the frantic finish.
Winona State was plagued by a season-high 19 turnovers and had its worst percentage night from the free throw line (68.4%) since the season opener. The Warriors did regain their shooting touch from beyond the arc, shooting above 40 percent (52.9%) for the first time in four games. Taylor went 4-4 from downtown and paced WSU with a season-high 24 points.
The Warriors fall to 4-4 (1-2 NSIC) after dropping both conference games this weekend. Wayne State improves to 8-1 (3-0 NSIC) with their seventh straight win overall.
After six straight games played in Winona, the Warriors hit the road to begin a four-game stretch with a pair of NSIC tilts next weekend. Winona State travels to Minnesota State-Mankato on Friday and Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday.
