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At sports bars and restaurants around Winona, Warriors fans watching the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship were a little nervous, if not shocked, by the halftime scoreboard.
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Daryl Jelle, left, Jonathan Schulz, middle and Ricky Smith watch the Winona State University men's basketball team play in the NCAA Division II championship game Saturday afternoon at Mulligan's Irish Pub in downtown Winona. The three Warrior fans cheered during the second half as the team came back from a 12-point deficit. (Photo by Fred Schulze/Winona Daily News) |
“At halftime, you looked back at last year and you just cringed,” said WSU senior Hayley Westney, who watched the game from Gabby’s Bar & Lounge.
“I thought it was over,” WSU junior Brandon Harris said. “I’m not gonna lie.”
Winona State University needed a big second half.
Daryl Jelle knew this, but he wasn’t worried.
“We’re a second-half team,” Jelle said from his post at Mulligan’s Irish Pub.
His voice echoed throughout the bar as the Warriors picked up momentum — and points — as the second half progressed. The Warriors solidified this “second-half team” identity with an 87-76 toppling of Augusta State University.
Jelle, a WSU graduate assistant strength coach, called the second-half playing “phenomenal.”
They were getting into the passing lane and hustling, which carried the team through, he said.
“Somehow, whatever (Coach Mike Leaf) told them, they changed their strategy,” Larry Berggren, a 1971 WSU graduate and former business professor said. “Now their adrenaline is carrying them.”
Larry and his wife, Carol, graduated from WSU more than 30 years ago. On Saturday, they watched the tournament from Mulligan’s with more than 60 other alums, both recent and not-so-recent.
A group of 36 recent WSU grads came to Mulligans at halftime, sporting “Winona Bar Golf” on their T-shirts. Their energy was just what was needed to boost low halftime spirits.
The chance that the reunion fell on the same day as their alma mater playing in a basketball championship game was “pure luck,” said reunion organizer and 2005 alum Brett Kosidowski.
“We do it as a way to get friends that went to school back together,” said his brother, Sean, a 2006 WSU grad.
With 12 minutes remaining, the energy at Mulligan’s was alive once again. The crowd gave one of its biggest bursts of energy when Jonte Flowers made a 3-pointer with less than four minutes left.
“(Flowers) took over the second half,” said Steve Tapp of Lewiston.
Mike Tapp of Rochester added, “He had 3-pointers, he had drives, he took it all.”
Larry Berggren said he would dance in the street if the Warriors won. Minutes later, the second-half team became second-time champions.
Soon, other crowds stepped out into the open from nearby taverns and restaurants, shouting at anyone who could hear them. Cars drove by, honking and cheering through rolled-down windows.
Berggren, and others who joined him, did indeed dance in the street.
Erin Harms, a WSU senior, watched the game from Gabby’s to support the seniors on the team.
“It’s important to them and it’s important to us,” she said.
