Winona State had just enough in the tank to hold off the University of Minnesota Duluth in a 62-56 win over the Bulldogs in the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Tournament. UMD fell victim to the Warriors' revenge as the Bulldogs pulled off a similar upset on Winona State last season in the NSIC Tournament.

Tonight's loss is especially painful as it likely dashed their NCAA postseason hopes.

UMD, whom checked in eighth in the NCAA II Central Region Rankings today, will now have its NCAA postseason fate in the hands of the committee as it hopes for one of the last at-large bids into the central region. It still has a slim chance as they were one of three teams in the rankings to fall tonight.

The Bulldogs, who won six of their last seven contests coming into tonight, are 11-12 all-time in the NSIC Tournament and 6-7 in the first r.ound. Tonight was the first loss to Winona State in the postseason as UMD was 2-0 in the league tournament and 6-0 overall in postseason play.

The Warriors won a defensive battle despite UMD holding Winona State to 33 percent shooting. The Warriors shot 28 percent in the opening half and 39 percent in the second. The Bulldogs shot nine percent better overall than the Warriors but the 42 percent was the lowest they shot in the last seven games.

Winona State finally opened up the low-scoring affair as it pieced together a 7-0 run in a span of 92 seconds to go ahead 43-35 with 10:13 to go. The Warriors have lived and died by the three all season and they made a few big triples when it mattered. Caleb Wagner gave Winona State its biggest lead of the night on a top-of-the-key three to extend the lead to 46-39. The Bulldogs fired back with a mini 6-0 run of their own before Charlie Koontz knocked down a corner three with under three to play.

The Warriors finished 10-for-29 beyond the arc with almost half of their attempts coming from three. The Bulldogs were 3-for-11.

UMD had a chance to tie the game and send it into overtime however. Junior guard Trevor Entwisle, who collected a team-high five assists, and senior forward Ryan Kaczynski made must-have shots late in the contest to keep the deficit at two in the waning minutes. Junior forward Brandon Myer buried a three down four to slice it to 57-56 with 10 seconds left. Wagner missed the second of two free throws but the Bulldogs were called for a charge on the offensive end trying to push the ball down the court and get a last-second shot off before the buzzer. The Warriors put the game on ice sinking four free throws at the end to stun the Bulldogs.

Myer led the Bulldogs offensively again with 21 points. Like he has the previous five outings, Myer tallied another double-double as he gathered 12 rebounds for his NSIC-leading 14th double-double of the season. Entwisle, senior guard Mamadou Ngom and freshman guard Hunter Plamann each amassed seven points in the loss.

Ngom also pulled down six rebounds and picked up an assist in likely his last game as a Bulldog. Kaczynski and senior forward Sean Burns, like Ngom, might have played in its last game as well. Kacsynski had two points and a pair of rebounds while Burns racked up four points, three rebounds and two thunderous blocks.

The NCAA Men's Basketball Selection Show is set to air on NCAA.com at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 10.

Highlights: