TOPEKA, KAN. — Despite attempting a valiant comeback and bringing the game within two possessions in the final minutes, rebounding troubles faulted the No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State University mens basketball team in a 69-62 loss to No. 3 Winona State University Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Division II Central Region quarterfinals. The Mustangs never led during the game.

The Mustangs were outrebounded 23-12 in the first half, and 45-26 overall. WSU finished with 20 second-chance points to SMSU’s none, and the Warriors built up a 13-point lead by halftime.

“I just want to give a lot of credit to Winona State. Obviously, we have played them quite a few times this year … They did a great job of doing what they do,” SMSU head coach Brad Bigler said. “They are one of the best defensive teams, if not the best defensive team that we have played this year, and that’s their staple.”

SMSU brought the game within 5 points in the final minute after overcoming as much as a 16-point deficit. Yet, the Mustangs had to resort in fouling WSU, and the Warriors hit the free throws in the end to seal the game.

Sparking SMSU’s rally back, Dunwa Omot grabbed a steal and drilled in a 3-pointer to bring the Mustangs within 58-51 with 5:45 to go. Aeron Stevens then got a steal of his own, which resulted in a Jakob Braaten fast break layup to make it a 5-point game, 60-55, with just over two minutes left.

WSU’s Isaiah Thompson was found open for a layup, and Braaten brought the game back within two possessions by making one of his free-throw attempts after drawing a foul, 62-56.

The Warriors’ cohesive defense forced a SMSU turnover with a steal for an open basket for a 64-56 lead with under a minute to go.

The Mustangs began fouling while in the bonus, and despite late 3-pointers from Omot and Mekhi Shaw, the Warriors made their free throws to stay ahead.

Overall, WSU went 12 of 15 from the charity stripe, including a 6 for 6 performance from Connor Drew.

“Over the course of time here, I’ve played with some of the best players that SMSU has ever had, with Dunwa being one of them… I’ve just got a lot of experience just learning from them,” Braaten said. “Next year, we’re looking forward to trying to do the same thing and make it back here. But this year, we didn’t really accomplish what we wanted to. None of our plan was to lose in the first round, so next year we are coming for a little bit more than that.”

The Mustangs performed better on the offensive glass in the opening minutes of the second half with four rebounds to WSU’s one, but SMSU couldn’t get shots to fall and went 1 for 10 from the field in the first five minutes.

Landon Pokorski, Steven Kramer and Mason Lund hit three straight jump shots, along with a Kramer free throw after drawing a foul, to cut into a 42-31 deficit with just under 13 minutes to go, igniting some needed offensive momentum.

Both Omot and WSU’s Jhei-R Jones heated up and hit back-to-back 3-pointers off one another moments later to bring SMSU’s deficit to 49-37 with 10 minutes left.

SMSU applied a full-court press throughout the second half in an attempt to throw WSU off and gain extra offensive possessions.

The Mustangs finished with eight turnovers to the Warriors’ 11, but were also hurt with paint points. WSU had 34 points in the paint to SMSU’s 22.

“Any time you see a team a fourth time, it’s a huge challenge,” WSU head coach Todd Eisner said. “We have a tremendous amount of respect for the way Southwest plays. They are a really difficult team to play against, we have really struggled against them in the last couple of years.”

Kramer had a game-high 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting, while Omot followed with 12 going 4 of 5 from the arc. Braaten finished with 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds and four assists.

Thompson led WSU with a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double, and Drew had a team-high 17 points.

SMSU finished the day shooting 39% from the field and went 9 of 26 from the 3-point line to the Warriors 42% outing on 20 attempts.

This was the second straight year SMSU earned a bid into the NCAA tournament, and seventh overall appearance in program history. The Mustangs fell to No. 2 Northwest Missouri State 73-43 in last year’s first round. The Bearcats’ head coach, Ben McCollum, left for Drake University after the season with four of his starters. Drake earned a No. 1 seed in this year’s Division I tournament.

Winona State reached the tournament for the first time since 2014.

“We got to keep building on this as we move forward. There’s a lot of emotion right now, there’s a lot on my mind,” Bigler said. “I just want to show these guys how much we appreciate them. These guys have been true Mustangs.”

Saturday was also the fourth time the Mustangs and WSU met this season, and SMSU was seeking revenge as the Warriors took the previous two meetings, including a 71-60 defeat to eliminate SMSU from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference [NSIC] tournament on March 1.

WSU opened the game up with a 10-2 run. Thompson sank a 3-pointer to start the scoring, which SMSU’s Stevens responded with a layup off a Braaten assist. Yet, WSU’s Jones hit another 3, along with a Thompson layup and Drew putback off an offensive rebound to extend its opening run.

Bigler called a timeout, and SMSU came back with 4 unanswered points with another Stevens layup and Pokorski steal and a floater down the middle of the lane to cut into a 10-6 deficit. But, WSU hit another from the arc to try and halt any Mustang momentum.

The Warriors extended their lead to 20-8 behind another pair of 3-pointers and continued to take advantage of the boards to run to a 34-21 halftime lead.

“There’s an effort you need to make though over the course of this spring, into the summer and into next year, and be able to capitalize on that,” Bigler said. “The NSIC, as we saw today and this year, it’s no joke … We do have the pieces to have a special year next year, we just can’t take it for granted though. We have to put in the work.”

Omot graduates from the program as the team’s lone senior.

“Going back-to-back [to the NCAA tournament], a lot of teams can’t say they’ve done that. I think it’s the work everyone puts in behind the scenes,” Omot said. “I’m just proud of this team, it’s been nothing but fun.”

Omot was the Mustangs’ leading 3-point shooter this season, averaging two makes a game on 5.8 attempts.

“Dunwa has had to earn everything that he’s gotten. A young man that wasn’t probably highly recruited coming out of high school, we gave him an opportunity, and he’s taken that opportunity and ran with it,” Bigler said. “He has such a good story, and I’m very thankful for him.”

SMSU finishes its season 21-9 overall, an improvement from its 19-13 record last year.

“I think we do have some momentum right now coming off two years of being pretty successful, but we still have a lot of growth with this group. We have a special, special guy right next to me with Dunwa that we’ll lose, but we bring everyone back and add a couple freshmen and redshirts that are doing pretty well in practice,” Bigler said. “There’s a lot to be excited about, but there’s a lot of work that we need to put in.”