Ice hockey isn’t the only winter sport of choice in Minnesota.

Winona State did its part in demonstrating that the state can play a little basketball, too, by winning the Division II Men’s Basketball Championship with a 73-61 victory over defending champion Virginia Union March 25 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The tournament was a series of firsts for Winona State. The Warriors showed no signs of stage fright as they made the most of their first Elite Eight appearance.

David Zellmann led Winona State with 26 points on 8-of-18 shooting, which included a Division II championship-game record seven made three-pointers. Tournament most outstanding player John Smith contributed 10 points and 13 rebounds to help his team end the season on a 22-game win streak.

Winona State only had five players score, but all reached double figures.

The game was televised live on CBS, which meant more stoppages in play than Division II programs are used to receiving.

“A big key was the timeouts. They are so frequent that you have to use them to your advantage,” said Winona State coach Mike Leaf. “It just seemed that our guys stayed fresh.”

The balanced scoring effort ended with Jonte Flowers adding 15 points, followed by Quincy Henderson with 12 and Zach Malvik with 10.

“Having four to five guys who can score in double figures has been a key all year,” said Leaf, whose squad finished the season 32-4. “It’s been a characteristic of this team all year, and it was again.”

Winona State grabbed control of the game from the opening tip. It never trailed in the contest, breaking to a 13-4 lead over the first 3:50 of the game. Virginia Union answered with three straight baskets to cut the lead to 13-10 with 14:37 left in the half.

But the Panthers were limited to just three points over the next 6:36 and the Winona State lead grew to 26-13 after a three-pointer from Zellmann with 8:01 to go in the first half.

 Being behind was no reason for Virginia Union to panic.

The Panthers had rallied for wins in the Elite Eight quarterfinals and semifinals, and in six straight postseason games overall. But trying to overcome a deficit that grew as large as 18 points proved to be a hurdle Virginia Union couldn’t overcome.

“The whole year (coach Dave Robbins) has been telling us we can’t keep coming from behind to win, and it caught up to us,” said Panthers senior Darius Hargrove. “They were a good team and they beat us.”

Virginia Union was led by Brad Byerson’s 22 points and 10 rebounds.

“We didn’t score like I wanted to, but I thought our kids really gave a tough effort on defense,” Robbins said. “We made one three-pointer and they were 10-of-25, so they made nine more threes than we did. That in itself is probably the difference.”

Virginia Union finished the season 30-4 and came within 40 minutes of defending its national title.

“We’re not embarrassed to be second best in the country,” Robbins said.

Winona State’s Zellmann and Smith were joined on the all-tournament team by Byerson and Hargrove of Virginia Union and Tony Binetti of Seattle Pacific University.

Elite Eight

Seattle Pacific 79, Montevallo 65; Virginia Union 60, SIU Edwardsville 58; Winona St. 86, Barton 78 (ot); Stonehill 69, Tarleton St. 59.

Semifinals

Virginia Union 68, Seattle Pacific 63

Virginia Union: Duan Crockett 3-8, 2-2, 5, 8; Brad Byerson 5-9, 4-9, 16, 14; Steve Miller 1-2, 0-0, 0, 2; Chris Greene 6-10, 2-2, 5, 14; Darius Hargrove 8-16, 3-4, 6, 22; Tim Young 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Jason Wansley 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Buster Perkins 1-1, 0-0, 1, 2; Quincy Smith 2-5, 0-0, 2, 6; John Toombs 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; John Thondique 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Totals: 26-51, 11-17, 37 (2 team), 68.

Seattle Pacific: Tony Binetti 6-12, 2-3, 4, 17; Chad Williams 1-5, 0-0, 4, 3; Drew Matzen 7-13, 0-0, 5, 19; Dustin Bremerman 2-11, 2-2, 7, 8; Robbie Will 3-5, 2-5, 2, 8; Jeff Knudson 1-2, 0-0, 1, 3; Jared Moultrie 0-3, 0-0, 2, 0; Mike Bushmaker 2-3, 1-4, 2, 5; Brian Lynch 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Austin Yuen 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Tim Gabe;eom 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Totals: 22-54, 7-14, 31 (4 team), 63.

Halftime: Virginia Union 33, Seattle Pacific 30; Three-point field goals: Virginia Union 5-11 (Hargrove 3-7, Smith 2-3, Miller 0-1); Seattle Pacific 12-32 (Matzen 5-10, Binetti 3-6, Bremerman 2-10, Williams 1-2, Knudson 1-2, Moultrie 0-1, Bushmaker 0-1). Officials: James Bruno, Everett Summers, Cornell Scaile.

Winona St. 83, Stonehill 73

Stonehill: Marquis Taylor 7-15, 4-4, 7, 18; Mike Lauricella 1-6, 0-0, 7, 3; Chris Krause 5-13, 5-6, 6, 17; Lance Clarke 4-7, 2-4, 1, 12; Sean Nelson 5-10, 0-0, 4, 12; Matt Hall 0-3, 0-0, 1, 0; Soup Toun 2-5, 0-0, 4, 6; Miatt DiCalogero 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Contin Scanlon 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Mike Reale 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Nick Smith 2-7, 0-0, 1, 5. Totals: 26-67, 11-14, 37 (5 team), 73.

Winona St.: Quincy Henderson 5-11, 0-0, 10, 11; Curt Robinson 1-2, 1-4, 2, 3; Jonte Flowers 5-13, 3-4, 9, 13; David Zellmann 5-18, 8-9, 8, 21; John Smith 9-14, 2-2, 11, 20; Zach Malvik 3-8, 5-8, 6, 12; Brent Riese 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Brandon Stromer 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Josh Korth 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Travis Whipple 1-1, 0-0, 0, 3; Shane Neiss 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Ryan Gargaro 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Michael Muller 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Totals: 29-67, 19-27, 49 (3 team), 83.

Halftime: Stonehill 38, Winona St. 28; Three-point field goals: Stonehill 10-28 (Nelson 2-3, Krause 2-4, Clarke 2-4, Toun 2-5, Lauricella 1-3, Smith 1-5; Taylor 0-4); Winona St. 6-23 (Zellmann 3-10, Whipple 1-1, Malvik 1-4, Henderson 1-7, Flowers 0-1). Officials: Tom Mauer, Haywood Bostic, Gene Millentree.

Championship game

Winona St. 73, Virginia Union 61

Virginia Union: Duan Crockett 3-13, 2-4, 6, 8; Brad Byerson 9-15, 4-6, 10, 22; Steve Miller 1-1, 1-2, 0, 3; Chris Greene 2-8, 0-0, 2, 4; Darius Hargrove 2-10, 5-6, 2, 9; Tim Young 1-2, 0-1, 2, 2; Mo Manning 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Jason Wansley 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Buster Perkins 3-3, 0-0, 2, 6; B.J. Stevenson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; John Toombs 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Greg Thondique 0-0, 0-0, 2, 0; Phillip Moore 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. Totals: 23-58, 14-21, 32 (5 team), 61.

Winona St.: Quincy Henderson 3-9, 5-6, 6, 12; Curt Robinson 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Jonte Flowers 6-10, 2-3, 6, 15; David Zellmann 8-18, 3-3, 6, 26; John Smith 4-8, 2-4, 13, 10; Zach Malvik 4-10, 1-2, 3, 10; Brent Riese 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Josh Schneider 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Brandon Stromer 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Joe Ingvalson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Josh Korth 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Travis Whipple 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Ryan Gargaro 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Totals: 25-55, 13-18, 39 (3 team), 73.

Halftime: Winona St. 38, Virginia Union 29. Three-point field goals: Virginia Union 1-11 (Smith 1-5, Young 0-1, Byerson 0-1, Hargrove 0-4); Winona St. 10-25 (Zellmann 7-15, Flowers 1-3, Malvik 1-3, Henderson 1-4). Officials: Tom Mauer, Everett Summers, Cornell Scaife.