(March 29): It was just over a year ago that Winona State saw a second national title slip out of its hands in a blink of an eye.

And while Barton overcame a 10-point deficit in the final minute to snatch that 2007 title away from the Warriors, Winona State used a powerful second half performance to wrest the 2008 NCAA Division II championship away from an Augusta State team that had built a 16-point lead early in the second half.

Once down 53-37, the Warriors outscored the Jaguars 50-23 over the final 17:25 to take an 87-76 victory for its second national title in three years.

It appeared that the Jaguars had the game exactly where they wanted it, building a 12-point halftime lead of 44-32 by the intermission and then up to 53-37 just over two and a half minutes into the second half after a three-point play by Garret Siler.

Sparked by Jonte Flowers, named as the Most Outstanding Player of the Elite Eight, the Warriors began their rally. Flowers scored six straight points after the Siler three-point play to get the margin down to 10, then hit the game-tying basket with 10:10 to go. After a three-point play by Siler gave the Jaguars a three-point lead, Flowers answered with a three to tie it up again.

The Warriors held periodic leads in the early stages of the contest, then grabbed their first lead since the 13:26 mark of the first half on a John Smith three-pointer with 7:40 to play. A.J. Bowman's basket 25 seconds later tied the score, but Ben Fischer's layup with 5:50 left started a decisive 17-5 run -- that included eight points from Flowers -- to give the Warriors a 12-point advantage.

Flowers led all scorers with 30 points, while Bowman led Augusta State with 26. The Jaguars shot 68 percent in the first half to build their lead, but only hit 46.4 percent in the second half and finished the season at 27-7.

Winona State, which knocked off both co-No. 1 ranked teams to reach the championship game, finished with a 38-1 record and broke the NCAA Division II record for wins in a season.

The all-tournament team also included Smith, Siler, Bowman and Bentley's Lew Finnegan.

Bentley, Grand Valley State enter regionals as co-No. 1-ranked teams
Regional tournament pairings
Printable NCAA Division II Tournament bracket