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By David Boyce  |  NCAA Selection Show (Sunday 9:30 p.m. CST)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - No drama. No last-second shots. Northwest Missouri State simply took control of the MIAA Tournament championship game in the latter stages of the first half and efficiently put an end to Central Missouri's season.
 
The Bearcats repeated as MIAA Tournament champions with a 69-61 victory Sunday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium. Central Missouri needed to win to keep its season alive.
 
"This was great," said Northwest senior Zach Schneider said. "Mac (Northwest coach Ben McCollum) told us that since the tournament moved here, no team has won back-to-back titles. It is another thing to add to our list. I am just glad we were able to do it in front of a huge Bearcat crowd. That was awesome."
 
Northwest, 29-1, will now return to Maryville, Mo., and at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, get confirmation that it will play host to the eight-team Central Regional, which starts Saturday. The Division II Tournament selection show will be streamed on NCAA.com.
 
"This atmosphere was great," said junior Brett Dougherty, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds. "We are going to see the same thing at our place. It should be a lot of fun."
 
In the Bearcats' first two wins in the MIAA Tournament, Northwest needed to make plays on offense and defense until the final seconds to come away with four-point victories over Lincoln University and Missouri Southern.
 
"The first two games were unbelievably difficult, and even this game was tough at the start," McCollum said. "Our kids stayed focused and now it is on to the next."
 
Northwest had much more control of the second half this time around. The Mules scored the first basket in the second half to cut their deficit to 40-30.
 
The Bearcats scored the next five points on a basket by Dougherty and a three-pointer by freshman Ryan Welty.
 
"It felt really good," said Welty, who was 3-for-3 on three-point shots. "We got a lot of shots off. The guards did a good job driving and kicking out. It felt good to see them go down today."
 
Northwest grabbed too many offensive rebounds and were making too many shots to let Central chip away. In fact, the Bearcats expanded their advantage over the next several minutes.
 
When Welty hit another three-pointer with 12:50 left, the Bearcats held a commanding 59-36 lead. At that point, Northwest was content to take time off the clock. They only scored seven points over the next 11 minutes. Central kept playing hard and closed to 66-55, but only 1:50 remained in the game.
 
"It is a lot less nerve-wracking," Schneider said. "It was nice we were able to relax a little bit in the last 10 minutes and get our legs under us."
 
In the final 10 minutes of the first half, Northwest put together it best offensive stretch in the tournament. The execution in those minutes turned a close game into a 40-28 halftime lead for the Bearcats.
 
"I didn't think we came out great, and Central did come out energetic," McCollum said. "We slowly found our rhythm offensively. We are able to expose some things they were doing defensively. We guarded them well."
 
Central took an early 11-6 lead. Northwest scored the next seven points and grabbed its first lead at 13-11 and the fun began. Over the next 3 minutes, the lead changed hands four times.
 
The Mules took a 14-13 lead on a three-pointer. Northwest responded with a basket by Pitts. Central went back in front with another three-pointer. Pitts put Northwest back in front with a three-pointer, making it 18-17.
 
Northwest didn't stop there. The Bearcats solidified their advantage with a four-point play from Schneider, making it 22-17. The Mules never recovered.
 
"It set the tone," Schneider said. "We kind of came out slow. I think that was the turning point in the game. From then on, we rode that wave and really played well the rest of the way."
 
The Bearcats continued to make baskets at a faster rate than Central. When senior Anthony Woods scored a two-point field goal, Northwest held it first double-digit lead at 35-24 with 4:19 left. Three minutes later, the lead ballooned to 40-26 when Pitts nailed a three-pointer just before the shot-clock buzzer.
 
"We had a good stretch there where we out-rebounded them, getting O-boards and easy buckets," Welty said. "It didn't put the game away, but it gave us an advantage in the second half."
 
Northwest shot 53.3 percent from the field and pulled down nine more rebounds, which contributed to the Bearcats taking eight more shots.
 
"Winning this tournament means a lot," Dougherty said. "For us, winning a tournament, is a whole other deal. Putting games together like this in a tough conference is pretty cool."