Box Score

MARYVILLE, Mo. – No. 1 seed Northwest Missouri State used a game-high 25 points from Justin Pitts and held off a final second 3-point field goal attempt by No. 2 seed Southwest Minnesota State to earn a 55-52 victory in the championship game of the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament at Bearcat Arena.
 
Northwest, 32-1 overall and ranked No. 1 in the latest NABC Top 25 poll, advances to the NCAA Elite Eight at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on March 22-25.
 
SMSU ends its season with a record of 28-6, tying a school record for victories in a season set previous by the 2000-01 and 2008-09 squads.
 
Pitts, named the tournament's most outstanding player, finished the night making nine of 26 field goal attempts and making six of eight from the free throw line. He also had five assists and one turnover, while playing all 40 minutes.
 
Ryan Bruggeman, also named to the all-tournament team, scored a team-high 20 points on nine of 17 from the field with two 3-pointers. Taylor Schafer added 10 points for SMSU, while Joey Bartlett chipped in with nine points. Carter Kirk scored eight points for SMSU and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
 
SMSU finished the night shooting 43 percent (23 of 53) from the field, including 5 of 13 from 3-point range. SMSU was just one of four from the free throw line.
 
NWMSU closed the game shooting 42 percent (21 of 50), including one of 15 from 3-point land. The Bearcats held a 33-31 rebound advantage and made 12 of 16 free throws.
 
SMSU trailed 41-33 with 8:50 left in the game, but rallied to within 48-47 with 1:54 left following a jumper from Taylor Schafer.
 
Pitts would make the score 50-47 with a layup at the 1:24 mark, before SMSU's Mitch Weg hit one of two free throws with 58 seconds left to cut the deficit to 50-48.
 
Pitts again came through with a jumper with 31 seconds left to make the score 52-48, but Bruggeman answered back with a floater in the lane to cut the lead to 52-50 with 23 seconds left.
 
Pitts would nearly extend the lead for the Bearcats, but he missed a layup with 16 seconds left. SMSU nearly came down with the rebound, but was not able to secure the ball as it went out-of-bounds. Following video review, the officials confirmed the call.
 
Pitts was fouled moments later and made promptly made both free throws with 12 seconds left to push the lead to 54-50.
 
Bruggeman came right down the floor and made the score 54-52 with eight seconds remaining keeping SMSU in the game. Following the inbounds pass, Pitts was fouled with four seconds left. After hitting the first, he missed the second attempt, giving SMSU one last chance. Bruggeman dribbled into the frontcourt, but his last-second tying 3-point attempt rimmed off, ending SMSU's dream season.
 
The first half was a battle as neither team had a lead of more than two points in the first 11 and a half minutes of the game.
 
SMSU held several two-point lead in the half with the last coming at the 9:38 mark following a 3-pointer by Bruggeman to give the Mustangs a 13-11 lead.
 
NWMSU took its second lead of the half with 8:38 remaining following two free throws from Pitts. The Bearcat would maintain the lead for the remainder of the half, with Pitts hitting a pair of field goals in the final two minutes to build a 24-19 halftime lead.
 
SMSU shot 38 percent in the opening and failed to score 20 points in a half for the first time since Feb. 1, 2013.
 
The second remained much of the same with Northwest building a pair of five-point lead, but SMSU clawed back and trimmed the deficit to 33-31 with 13:21 remaining following a jumper from Turner Moen.
 
NWMSU had a big response, scoring the next six points to take its largest lead of the night at 39-31 with 10 minutes remaining. Following a made jumper from Bartlett at the 9:14 mark, Pitts made the field goal moments later to push the lead back to 41-33 with 8:50 remaining, before SMSU made its comeback attempt.
 
Tonight's game was the final for SMSU seniors Joey Bartlett, Mitch Weg and Drew Osmundson.