On March 27, 2008, 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 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, advanced to the national championship game against Augusta State, a 56-50 winner of Alaska-Anchorage earlier in the 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 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 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 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 finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.  Sophomore guard Jason Westrol 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."