On this date in 2008, the 34-0 Bentley Falcons and the 36-1 Winona State Warriors squared off in the Elite Eight at the MassMutual Center in Springfield with a berth in the national championship game on the line. The two teams had met a year earlier in the quarterfinals with Winona prevailing 64-51.

This time, Bentley took a 36-30 lead into the halftime break and held a four-point lead midway through the second half. However, Winona scored nine straight – two three-pointers and a traditional three-point play – and maintained the advantage the rest of the way.

A lay-up by Tom Dowling with 100 seconds left brought the Falcons to within four, 75-71, before Winona locked up a third straight appearance in the national championship game with a 10-3 burst that included seven free throws.

Nate Fritsch led Bentley with 18 points off the bench and was joined in doubles by three teammates. Lew Finnegan scored 17, Dowling had 15 and Yusuf Abdul-Ali finished with 10.

Bentley finished the season with the best record in program history, 34-1, and concluded a remarkable two-year stretch in which the Falcons won 66 of 68 games.