Reid Peters / Winonan

With the game clock winding down, junior Riley Bambenek provided some excitement for the Winona State University men’s basketball team, connecting on a 30-foot 3-pointer as time expired in extra time to lift the Warriors to a 72-71 victory over Minnesota State University, Mankato Friday night in Winona.

The Maverick’s Joey Witthus missed his second of two free throws with five seconds to go in the contest. Redshirt first-year Charlie Koontz recovered the rebound and hit Bambenek on an outlet pass up the court. With less than a second on the game clock, Bambenek, who had 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting, put in his last 3-point shot of the night.

Before the overtime heroics, the Warriors got a couple of key plays from Koontz.

Toward the end of regulation, the Mavericks again missed a free throw which would have put them up by three with 10 seconds to go.

But junior forward Kyle Bauman collected the rebound, pushed it to Bambenek who found Koontz under the rim for a layup to tie the game up and force overtime.

Winona State was behind for most of the overtime period, but another missed Maverick free throw allowed for Koontz to knock down a jumper after an offensive rebound to tie the game at 67 apiece.

The Mavericks’ Jalen Pendleton responded with a 3-point play to put them up by three with under 30 seconds to go.

Bambenek followed with a pair of free throws to set the score at 70-69, setting the stage for his game-winning bucket.

At halftime, the Warriors led 31-26 before the Mavericks went on a 12-0 run which gave Minnesota State a 45-37 lead with 10:42 to play.

The Warriors followed with a 9-2 run was led by back-to-back 3-pointers by Bambenek to narrow the score to 47-46. Bauman drilled consecutive 3-pointers which sparked a 8-0 run for the Warriors and gave them a 57-53 lead with 3:27 to play. The Mavericks responded with another run,

this time 7-0, and the Warriors would not have the lead until the final shot of the game.

Winona State head coach Todd Eisner said home-court advantage is a key factor, especially in the NSIC.

“To compete for championships, you need to protect your home court,” Eisner said.

The Warriors win ties them with Minnesota State for second in the NSIC South Division.

Bauman finished with his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with two blocks and 10 rebounds.

The Warriors followed Friday’s heroics with a loss at home against Concordia-St. Paul University on Saturday, by a score of 67-62.

Winona State led 38-36 with 14 minutes left in the contest before Concordia went on a 21-3 run, putting them up 57-41 with 5:42 to play.

The Warriors fought back with a 12-1 run of their own to narrow the deficit to five, 63-58.

Blacklock put in a layup to make it a one-possession ballgame with 24 seconds to go, but the Golden Bears held on for the 67-62 victory.

Eisner said the team did not have the same energy in this game as they did Friday.

“We have to play both nights,” said Eisner. “I didn’t see any life in us today.”

Senior guard Conrad Masberg led the Warriors with 15 points, Bauman tallied 14 points with six rebounds while Bambenek netted 11 points.

Winona State (13-11, 12-8 NSIC) will conclude its regular season next weekend with road games at Wayne State College and Augustana.