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By David Boyce

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Faced with a semifinal loss in the MIAA Tournament, Northwest Missouri State showed why it has won the last four regular-season conference titles. The Bearcats were clutch in crunch time.
 
Northwest eked out a 67-63 victory over Missouri Southern Saturday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium because it came up with big-time plays in the final 25 seconds.
 
"It is always fun to play in these types of games," said junior Justin Pitts, who finished with 24 points. "It is postseason basketball. I am sure the rest of the games in postseason are going to be close."
 
The Bearcats trailed 63-61 when junior Chris-Ebou Ndow went to the free throw line with 23 seconds left. Ndow made the first and missed the second one. Senior forward D'Vante Mosby was there to grab a rebound and call timeout.
 
With 8 seconds left, Pitts missed a jumper, but Mosby was there again to grab the rebound and call timeout.
 
"You have to go after it," said Mosby, who finished with eight rebounds and 14 points. "That is my job at that moment. I am glad I came up with them."
 
Given another opportunity, Northwest took advantage. Pitts drove and passed to senior Zach Schneider, who launched his only shot in the second half. He drilled a long three-pointer that put Northwest ahead 65-63 with 2.3 seconds left.
 
"Muscle memory," Schneider said.
 
The muscle memory came from thousands upon thousands of three-point shots Schneider has taken in an empty Bearcat Arena over his last four years. Those lonely days and nights paid huge dividends in front of a boisterous crowd in his hometown. Schneider played high school basketball at Shawnee Mission East.
 
"I was pretty calm, honestly," Schneider said of his game-winning shot. "I knew they weren't going to let Justin take that last shot. I was ready and in position. I have shot it the same my whole life. It worked out pretty well."
 
Mosby, who played at Fort Osage, is another Bearcat who came up big in his hometown. It was fitting that he capped the scoring in the semifinal win with two free throws with 2 seconds left.
 
"We don't have that chance without his rebounds," Schneider said. "That was him playing his role, get O-boards. Those were two of the biggest ones of our season."
 
The win puts Northwest, 28-1, in the MIAA championship game against Central Missouri. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium. Northwest will attempt to repeat as tournament champions.
 
"It was a good, physical basketball game," Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. "We have to be ready for tomorrow."
 
It appeared the Bearcats put themselves in great position to reach the championship game with 5:39 left when senior Anthony Woods hit a shot in the paint to increase Northwest's lead to 57-51
 
But the Lions, fighting to keep their season alive, roared back and tied the game at 59-59 with 2:09 left on layup by JJ Cratit and a minute later went ahead 61-59 on two free throws by CJ Carr.
 
Northwest tied the game at 61-61 with 52 seconds left on two free throws by Pitts. Eleven seconds later, the Lions were back in front on a 15-foot, fall away jumper by Carr.
 
And that set the stage for Mosby and Schneider to delight their hometown fans with championship plays.
 
"It was just crazy," Schneider said. "I looked up in the stands with 5 minutes left and it was packed."
 
Northwest and Southern delivered intense drama until the final seconds of the game. They showed why this time of year in college basketball is called March Madness.
 
"That is the type of games you get in postseason," McCollum said. "It was two good teams. They played well defensively. I thought our guys competed. I thought we did a good job of executing our game plan, getting 50/50 balls and that actually ended up helping us win the game. I am very proud of our guys' effort. It was a fun college basketball game."
 
The first half was also postseason basketball at its finest. Both teams locked in defensively. There were four lead changes. Northwest managed to take a 35-29 lead because of the way it attacked the boards.
 
A 21-12 advantage in rebounds for Northwest set a gritty tone that allowed the Bearcats to quickly respond the few times it fell behind.
 
The game started with Schneider hitting a three-pointer and Pitts making a two-point field goal for a 5-0 lead.
 
The Bearcats maintained the lead until Southern went ahead 19-18 midway through the first half. Northwest quickly responded with a basket by Pitts and stayed ahead for another 3 minutes.
 
Southern took its second lead at 27-25 on a three-pointer from Kinzer Lambert. Once again, Northwest answered with its best offensive run in the half. The 10-0 spurt started with two free throws by Mosby followed by a three-pointer from Pitts to give Northwest a 30-27 lead.
 
The three-pointer ignited Pitts, who knocked down two free throws and then rattled in a NBA-range three-pointer to make it 35-27.
 
"Two teams competed as hard as they could and the ball happened to bounce our way in the end," McCollum said.