The No. 15-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball team did not allow a point over the final eight minutes of its 53-50 MIAA Tournament semifinal win over No. 21-ranked Fort Hays State.
 
Fort Hays State (23-6 overall) held a 50-42 lead with 8:01 to play in the contest. The Tigers missed their final 10 shots and committed five turnovers in the final eight minutes. Northwest (27-5 overall) closed the game on an 11-0 run to capture the program's 50th MIAA Tournament victory. Northwest is 50-26 in MIAA Tournament action.
 
Northwest reached its 17th overall MIAA Tournament title game and will play for the tournament crown in the seventh straight season. Northwest moved to 17-12 in MIAA Tournament semifinal contests.
 
Northwest held a 5-3 lead after a three-pointer from Trevor Hudgins, his only made triple in the game, and a bucket from Luke Waters with 17:15 to play in the first half. FHSU hit Northwest with an 18-4 run that gave the Tigers a 12-point cushion at 21-9 with 10:58 remaining in the opening half. Hudgins hit two free throws with 1:59 left and Daniel Abreu put in a Hudgins miss with :44 left to close out the first-half scoring that had Northwest trailing 29-23 at the break.
 
Abreu and Isaiah Jackson each converted conventional three-point plays to begin the half that pulled Northwest to within two at 31-29. FHSU would extend the lead back to eight at 39-31 after a three-pointer from Nyjee Wright with 15:42 left in the game.
 
Northwest put together a 9-2 spurt to come within one at 41-40 with 11:22 to play. The Tigers countered with a 9-2 run of their own to push the lead back to eight at 50-42 with 8:01 remaining in the semifinal contest.
 
Diego Bernard began the final 11-0 run with two free throws at the 6:13 mark. Hudgins scored on a second-chance bucket when Byron Alexander grabbed an offensive board with 5:30 to go that left Northwest trailing, 50-46.
 
Bernard split a pair at the line with 4:00 to slice the lead to three. Wes Dreamer came up with a block late in the shot clock of an FHSU possession with 3:30 to go to stymie another Tiger scoring attempt. Hudgins was fouled on the offensive end and sank two free throws to cut FHSU's lead to 50-49 with 3:18 to play.
 
Bernard took a charge with 2:19 left to set the stage for a Hudgins basket on Northwest's end of the floor with 2:11 to play that put the Bearcats on top, 51-50.
 
FHSU's Kaleb Hammeke missed a shot in the lane with 1:41 left. Hudgins could not connect on a three-pointer on Northwest's possession giving FHSU another chance to retake the lead.
 
Wright misfired on a triple with just under a minute to play, but the Tigers corralled the missed shot and took a timeout. Hammeke could not score on his next shot with :39 left and FHSU head coach Mark Johnson decided to play out the possession and not foul the Bearcats.
 
Hudgins drove in the lane and missed a shot, but Northwest's Byron Alexander was credited with the offensive rebound and was fouled with :02.6 remaining in the game. Alexander calmly drained both of them to give Northwest a three-point lead at 53-50.
 
FHSU advanced the ball to halfcourt and took its final timeout with :02.2 remaining. FHSU's Bjarni Jonsson's three-point attempt at the buzzer missed and Northwest claimed the triumph.
 
Northwest will take on Washburn in Sunday's MIAA Tournament championship game at 3:30 p.m.