WINONA, Minn. – Winona State University went cold in overtime of Wednesday night's NSIC opening round tournament game and suffered a season-ending 89-77 loss to the University of Minnesota Duluth in McCown Gymnasium.
The Bulldogs avenged a 19-point loss at WSU earlier this season with the tournament win and finalize the Warriors' year with a record of 19-10.
Friday night marked the first time in six games this season Winona hoisted at least 30 three pointers (10-31) and didn't come away with a victory.
The Warriors erased a five-point second half deficit to lead by as many as six in the final period of regulation as a thrilling finish sent the game into overtime.
With the Warriors leading 72-68, Duluth's Brandon Myer scored the Bulldogs' next four points to knot the score, including a pair of free throws in the final minute. Duluth got the ball back with the game still tied and was poised to take the final shot of the contest, but Kevion Taylor stole the ball for Winona with four ticks left on the clock. Taylor raced down the court and uncorked a three-pointer as time expired, but the shot wouldn't fall, and the teams played on.
Overtime then belonged to the Bulldogs. Duluth opened the extra frame by scoring nine-unanswered points while Winona went scoreless on its first five field goal attempts. In total, the Warriors went 1-for-11 from the field in overtime, with their only bucket coming on a Tommy Gathje three-pointer as time expired.
The Bulldogs were red-hot to open the game, knocking down seven of their first 12 attempts from beyond the arc and shooting 56 percent (10-18) from downtown in the first half. Despite going just 5-for-13 from long range on the other end of the court, Winona faced only a 41-39 deficit at halftime.
The Warriors dominated the lane in the first half by out-rebounding the Bulldogs, 20-13, and outscoring them 20-6 in the pant.
Winona also held the NSIC's fourth-leading scorer, Myers, scoreless in the first half. The Bulldog sophomore got loose in the second half however, scoring 15 points and ending the game with 17. Duluth's Mamadou Ngom led the way with a season-best 18 points on 4-of-4 shooting from downtown.
Corey Jeffs paced Winona with 19 points in his 112th and final game in a Warrior uniform. The senior did his part while scoring 12 points of the team's 19 points in a six-minute span that he closed with a three-pointer to give the Warriors a 63-59 advantage with 9:38 left in regulation.
Gathje scored 15 points and pulled down eight boards. Taylor scored 10 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. The backcourt duo of Caleb Wagner and Devin Whitelow combined for 25 points in the loss.
