ABERDEEN, South Dakota – Never underestimate the heart of a champion … and don't count out the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcat men's basketball team when the outcome looks bleak.
 
Northwest overcame an 11-point deficit with 3:01 to play and posted a 91-86 overtime victory over Northern State University to advance to the program's fifth Elite Eight.
 
Junior Trevor Hudgins scored 27 of 29 points in the second half and overtime. Hudgins buried 4-of-6 three-pointers in the victory.
 
True freshman Byron Alexander posted a career-high 21 points. Alexander went 6-for-6 from the field and was 9-of-11 at the free throw line.
 
Northwest head coach Ben McCollum said it was a great game played by both teams and an entertaining contest.
 
"You probably won't see a better college basketball game this year," McCollum said. "We got a little lucky and came away with a big win. I can't say enough about the heart of our kids. We were not done and we kept battling. It was fun."
 
Northern State bounced out to an 18-6 lead barely seven minutes into the contest. The 12-point deficit is the largest the Bearcats have faced this season.
 
Following a timeout, the Bearcats went on an 11-2 run to cut the NSU lead to 20-17 with 7:50 left in the half. Northwest would continue to cut into the NSU advantage and took its first lead of the half on a pair of free throws from Byron Alexander with 2:07 left in the first half.
 
Northwest would lead 33-29 on a layup from Luke Waters. However, the Wolves were able to recapture the halftime advantage on a jumper by Tommy Chatman with :02 remaining before intermission.
 
The Bearcats took a four-point lead early in the second half at 44-40, only to see the Wolves come back and take a 52-48 advantage with 12:24 to play. NSU pushed the lead to seven at 60-53 with 9:35 to play.
 
A Hudgins three-pointer with 8:04 to play pulled Northwest to within two at 62-60. NSU's Parker Fox continued to score at will as he tallied seven of his game-high 34 points to build an 11-point bulge at 76-65 with 3:01 to play.
 
McCollum admitted that it did not look bright for the Bearcats at that point.
 
"There's some that thought of losing that creeped in there," McCollum said. "When you are down that much, it was a pretty low chance at that point. But with our group and our heart they've proven there's a chance. They just believed. I don't know if I've seen many comebacks like that in any game."
 
Hawkins cut it to nine with a bucket only to see Fox hit one of two free throws on the other end to push the NSU lead back to 10 with 2:19 left.
 
Hudgins put the Bearcats on his back as he produced eight points in a 23-second span to slice the NSU lead to 78-75 with 1:38 to play. On Northwest's next possession, Hawkins drove for a shot but was tied up and the jump ball went to NSU. However, Hawkins tallied a steal on the ensuing Wolves possession that led to Diego Bernard making one of two at the line.
 
Northwest played defense without fouling but NSU got a team rebound out of bounds with :14.9 left. Freshman Isaiah Jackson fouled NSU's Mason Stark with :12 left and Stark would make only one of two.
 
Hudgins took the ball down the floor and calmly sank a step-back three-pointer with :05 left to knot the game at 79-79.
 
McCollum said the key to the comeback was certainly the leadership displayed by Hudgins.
 
"His cool head, his incredible humility (that's what makes him special)," McCollum said. "There is zero arrogance to him. He has a genuine extreme confidence. Very few have that confidence. He is so humble. He believes in himself and his teammates believe in him."
 
NSU inbounded the ball and lost it at half-court in a wild scramble, but Northwest's Jackson was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer and the game went into overtime.
 
The Wolves would only make 1-of-6 shots in the overtime period but it was a three-pointer by Kobe Busch that gave NSU its final lead of the game, 84-83 with 2:05 on the clock.
 
Sophomore Luke Waters put Northwest back on top with a layup on an assist from Hawkins with 1:43 to play. Hudgins buried two more free throws with 1:21 left to put Northwest up three, 87-84. NSU's Jaylen Robinson sank two free throws with :42.3 to cut the Bearcat lead to one, but Hawkins broke free for a layup with :26.2 to push the lead back to three. NSU missed a game-tying three-pointer and Jackson salted away the victory by draining two free throws with :09 left to complete the scoring and gave Northwest the 91-86 triumph.
 
Northwest shot 50.8% from the field, including 61.5% in the second half. Northwest failed to make a three-pointer in the first half – the first time since Nov. 3, 2018 also against Northern State.
 
The Elite Eight is set for March 24-27 in Evansville, Indiana. The bracket will be reseeded by the NCAA Division II men's basketball committee and released at a later date.
 
NOTES: Northwest is 31-20 all-time in the NCAA Tournament … Northwest has won 19 consecutive road games, which is the longest active road win streak in the nation among all NCAA divisions … Northwest is 12-0 on the road this season … Northwest has won 35 of its last 36 road games and is 49-4 on the road over the past five seasons … Northwest improves to 4-1 all-time vs. Northern State and the Bearcats are 2-0 vs. the Wolves in overtime games … Hawkins became only the second Bearcat to eclipse 2,000 career points … Hawkins has scored 2,015 career points … Hudgins posted his 50th career 20-point scoring game … Northwest is 94-3 over the past three seasons … Northwest is 156-8 over the past five seasons … McCollum registered his 297th career win against only 78 losses … McCollum improved to 20-5 in NCAA Tournament games … Northwest has won 14 of its last 15 NCAA Tournament contests … it was the third overtime NCAA Tournament game for the Bearcats … Northwest is 2-1 in NCAA Tournament overtime games ... Northwest is 50-0 under McCollum when scoring 90 or more points ... it's the sixth time this season that Northwest has scored 90 or more points in a game … Northwest had three players named to the Central Region All-Tournament team – Trevor Hudgins, Ryan Hawkins and Byron Alexander … Alexander was named the region's Most Outstanding Player … in two NCAA Tournament games, Alexander 10-of-10 from the field and averaging 14.5 points per game.