SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball team earned a spot in the Central Region final for the seventh time in eight NCAA tournaments with a 70-55 victory over the Washburn University Ichabods at the Pentagon.

Northwest (30-5 overall) got a double-double from sophomore Wes Dreamer with 16 points and 13 rebounds along with a game-high 18 points from junior Diego Bernard and a career-high 13 points from redshirt freshman Isaiah Jackson to end Washburn's season. The Ichabods finished the year with a mark of 22-11.
 
Northwest head coach Ben McCollum said he enjoyed advancing, but also realized it meant the end of the career of a couple of stellar Washburn guards in Tyler Geiman and Jalen Lewis.

"The game was fun and miserable all at once," McCollum said. "I have a lot of respect for Tyler and Jalen and they have been such a big part of the MIAA. Tonight featured two of the best back courts in the country in Division II basketball."
 
Northwest sank its first four three-pointers of the game to build an early advantage. Northwest would make 7-of-10 from deep in the opening half. Wes Dreamer and Mitch Mascari each knocked in their first three three-pointers in the first half. Mascari's second three of the half gave Northwest a 28-12 lead with 5:30 before half. Mascari's last triple of the half put the Bearcats up 21 points at 39-18 with 1:58 to play. Washburn would out-score Northwest 9-2 to close the half and would trail the Bearcat at the break, 41-27.
 
Washburn continued its run to start the second half and would complete a 13-2 run with 17:33 to play in the game. Back-to-back buckets to open the second half from Jonny Clausing cut the Bearcat lead to 41-31.
 
WU's Lewis scored on a conventional three-point play to pull the Ichabods to within four at 46-42 with 10:06 to play. Northwest sophomore Luke Waters buried a three from the top of the key to take the lead back to seven at 49-42.
 
The game turned on a key five-point possession for the Bearcats with 7:21 to play. Dreamer knocked down a three and Bernard was fouled on the play. Bernard stepped to the line and buried two free throws to give Northwest a 54-44 advantage.
 
Waters would hit a jumper from the free throw line as the shot clock expired to lift the lead back to double figures at 58-48 with 3:14 to play.
 
Junior guard Trevor Hudgins, who was held to a season-low seven points, knocked in a shot over the out-stretched arms of Clausing for a 60-48 lead with 2:35 left. Northwest would make all eight of its free throws in the final 1:38 to close out the 70-55 victory.
 
"I think we were off offensively in the second half," McCollum said. "But we scored enough to win."
 
Geiman was held to a season-low two points as a result of the defense played by Isaiah Jackson.
 
"Isaiah played a huge part in our defensive effort," McCollum said. "He is one of the best feet movers I have ever coached. I thought our defensive spacing away from the ball was better tonight."
 
Northwest will take on Augustana in Tuesday's Central Region at 7 p.m. Augustana defeated Upper Iowa, 65-60.
 
NOTES: Northwest is 36-20 all-time in NCAA Tournament play … Northwest has reached the 30-win mark for the sixth time in program history and the fourth time under head coach Ben McCollum … McCollum improved his NCAA Tournament record to 25-5 overall … Northwest has won 13 straight NCAA Tournament games and 20 of its last 21 … Northwest has won 52 of its last 53 neutral court contests … over the past four seasons, Northwest has posted a mark of 127-8 … Northwest is 189-13 over the last six seasons … Trevor Hudgins became the first Bearcat to reach 800 points in a season with 804 poitns … he became only the seventh player in MIAA history to score 800 or more points in a single season … Hudgins has played in more games than anyone in Northwest or MIAA history at 135 games … Hudgins streak of scoring in double-figures was snapped at 76 in a row … Wes Dreamer has collected back-to-back double-doubles giving him seven career double-doubles … Dreamer captured his 43rd double-figure scoring game … Isaiah Jackson earned his fifth career double-figure scoring game … Diego Bernard tallied his 92nd career double-figure scoring game … Hudgins has posted 2,736 career points and needs 84 more points to equal the MIAA all-time leading scorer Bill Fennelly's total of 2,819 points at Central Missouri from 1977-81 … it's the fifth time Northwest and Washburn have met in the NCAA Tournament with Northwest holding a 3-2 edge … Washburn holds a 66-54 lead in the all-time series … Northwest has won five of the eight meetings between the two schools over the past two seasons, including a pair of NCAA Tournament victories … Trevor Hudgins and Diego Bernard are perfect 13-0 in the NCAA Tournament … Northwest lead the nation this season with 355 made three-pointers … Northwest is 26-2 this season when winning the battle on the boards … Northwest out-rebounded Washburn, 32-27 … under head coach Ben McCollum, Northwest has a record of 145-5 when holding the opposition to 59 points or less.
 
TV Information for Tuesday Night's NCAA Central Region Final

• The game will be on Midco Sports, channel 622
• Will be on 29 affiliate cable systems throughout ND, SD and MN
• Minneapolis/St. Paul Comcast Xfinity channel 999
• Midco Sports Streaming ($5.99 purchase price/month)
• There is no single game purchase option - need to pay for a month
• Midco Sports  Plus App / Apple TV / Roku / Fire TV on mobile, tablets and connected TVs
• Web browser stream www.midcosports.com/streaming

Midco purchased the rights from Turner/NCAA, so there will not be a free stream of the game.