Winona St. rallies for another NCAA title

Jonte Flowers scored 25 of his 30 points in the second half and Winona State erased a 16-point deficit to win its second NCAA Division II championship in three years with an 87-76 victory over Augusta State on Saturday at Springfield, Mass.

The Warriors (38-1) set an NCAA Division II record for victories in a season, breaking the record of 36 by Regis (Colo.) College, which had stood since 1949.

A.J. Bowman scored 26 points to lead Augusta State (27-7), which was playing in the title game for the first time. He made 12 of 15 shots to set a record for the title game.

Augusta State led, 53-37, with 17:25 left before Winona State’s defensive pressure sparked a rally that brought the Warriors back. Flowers’ basket tied the score at 58-58 with 10 minutes left.

John Smith’s three-point basket gave Winona State a 65-63 lead, its first of the second half. The Warriors outscored Augusta State, 55-32, in the second half.

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Texas Christian hired Jim Christian away from Kent State, hoping his success with the Golden Flashes carries over to the Horned Frogs. He replaces Neil Dougherty, who was fired on March 16 following a 14-16 season.

Christian was 138-58 in six years at Kent State, winning at least 20 games each season. The Golden Flashes were 28-7 this season, losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Nevada Las Vegas.

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Northern Kentucky (28-8) rallied from second-half deficits of 12 and nine points and beat South Dakota, 63-58, at Kearney, Neb., in the NCAA Division II women’s national championship game. The Coyotes (33-2) had their 31-game winning streak stopped.