BOX SCORE (PDF)

MARYVILLE, Missouri - The No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri State men's basketball moved on to the NCAA Division II Central Region final with a 70-59 triumph over the Southern Nazarene University Crimson Storm in front of a sold out Bearcat Arena.
 
Senior Joey Witthus led all scorers with 29 points as he made 10-of-16 shots from the field, including a trio of three-pointers.
 
Redshirt freshman Trevor Hudgins buried a lengthy shot-clock beating three with 1:04 remaining to put away the Crimson Storm. Hudgins tallied 16 points and seven rebounds in the victory.
 
The Bearcats gained momentum quickly against the Crimson Storm as they got out to a 14-5 advantage in the first six minutes of the game. From then it was a back and forth battle as SNU tried to make gains on the lead, but Northwest handled the push back.
 
Northwest held a 23-13 lead with 7:38 left in the first half when Southern Nazarene made a run. SNU pulled to within a single point at 24-23 with 4:03 remaining until halftime. Northwest responded with a 7-0 spurt to open it back up to an eight-point margin.
 
As the contest neared halftime, Witthus buried a triple that gave Northwest a 36-25 lead. But SNU's Jhonathan Dunn sank a three-pointer to beat the buzzer to make it a 36-28 advantage at the break.  It wasn't soon after that Joey Witthus hit a three-pointer to put the Bearcats back up four and helped carry the momentum to halftime allowing Northwest to go up 36-28.
 
SNU hung around in the second half and cut the Bearcat lead to 58-53 with 3:51 to play. Hudgins then kept the Crimson Storm at bay by burying two free throws and pair of three-pointers to clinch the win – including the shot-clock beating bomb with just over a minute to play.
 
Northwest (34-0 overall) will take on MIAA foe Missouri Southern on Tuesday at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight in Evansville on March 27-30.
 
NOTES: Earlier this season, Northwest and Missouri Southern met in Bearcat Arena with the Bearcats scoring an 82-62 win on Feb. 2. … Hudgins set his career-high in rebounds with seven (he had six in the first half) … Northwest is 15-0 at home this season … over the past three seasons, Northwest is 96-5 overall … Northwest is 25-20 all-time in NCAA play.