MANKATO, Minn. – The No. 4-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball team reached the program's 12th NCAA regional final with a 71-62 victory over No. 10-ranked Minnesota Duluth Sunday night at the Taylor Center.
 
Northwest moved its winning streak to 18 in a row and has posted a mark of 29-4 this season. Minnesota-Duluth finished its season at 26-7. The Bearcats also were victorious for the 19th straight time in the NCAA Tournament when playing an opponent on a neutral court.
 
The Bearcats improved to 4-0 this season against a top-25 ranked opponent. Northwest is 35-4 in its last 39 games against ranked foes.
 
Sophomore guard Bennett Stirtz put up his 12th 20-point scoring game this season and 14th of his career with a game-high tying 21 points. Stirtz also handed out a game-high seven assists while not committing a turnover in 40 minutes of action. It is the 15^th time in his collegiate career that Stirtz has played 40 or more minutes in a game.
 
Stirtz was joined in double-figure scoring by junior Daniel Abreu (17), junior Isaiah Jackson (14) and senior Wes Dreamer (12). Jackson and Abreu each grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
 
The Bearcat defense was locked in from the tip as the Bulldogs managed only one shot attempt and were forced into four turnovers. UMD was held scoreless for the first 4:40 of the contest. The Bearcats used a 16-3 run to take a 20-7 advantage with 8:29 left in the half. Northwest would increase its lead to 15 at 24-9 on a steal and dunk from Stirtz with 7:06 remaining before the break.
 
The Bulldogs were able to climb back into the matchup with a 17-5 spurt that sliced the Bearcat lead to three at 29-26 with 1:39 left in the opening half. Stirtz made two free throws, the only free throws for the Bearcats in the first half, for the final points of the half with 1:17 on the clock.
 
Duluth battled back to tie the game at 38-38 on a bucket from Drew Blair with 14:38 to play – marking the first tie in the game since it was 4-4. Duluth took its first lead of the contest at 41-40 on a deep three from Blair with 12:27 to play. Jackson knotted the game at 41-41 when he split a pair of free throws with 12:04 left.
 
A tip-in by Duluth's Matt Thompson gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game at 43-41 with 11:52 remaining. Northwest then answered back with a 12-2 spurt to take an eight-point lead at 53-45. Included in the run was a crucial technical foul call on Duluth head coach Wieck heading into a media timeout with 11:06 left in the game. Junior Mitch Mascari sank both free throws after Abreu had put the Bearcats up to make it a 47-43 advantage.
 
Abreu tallied 10 of his 17 points in the final 6:38 to help keep Duluth at bay. Abreu hit a triple with 6:38 left to give Northwest a 56-49 lead. Abreu converted a conventional three-point play with 2:19 left that perched the Bearcats to a 65-56 lead. Abreu buried a jumper in the lane with :01 left on the shot clock and :54.4 left in the game to push the Bearcat lead to 69-62. Abreu closed out the scoring in the game with a pair of free throws with :39.6 remaining.
 
Northwest will take on No. 2-ranked Minnesota State in Tuesday's NCAA Central Regional final for a berth into the 2024 Elite Eight. Tip is set for 7 p.m. at the Taylor Center.

NOTES: Northwest evened the all-time series with Minnesota-Duluth to 1-1 … Northwest is one win away from its third consecutive 30-win season … Northwest's 18-game winning streak is tied for the sixth-longest under head coach Ben McCollum … McCollum improved his NCAA Tournament record to 32-6 … Northwest is 43-21 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and its 43 wins ranks as the fourth-most in NCAA Div. II history … Northwest earned a spot to compete in the NCAA Central Region final for the ninth time in the last 11 seasons that the tournament has been held … Northwest is 21-5 in the Central Region from 2013-14 to this season … Bearcat senior Wes Dreamer is 28-2 in NCAA Tournament games … Northwest has won 20 of its last 21 NCAA Tournament games and 26 of its last 28 … overall, Northwest is 253-20 over the last eight seasons … Abreu has scored in double figures in 11 straight games … Abreu has also connected on at least one three-pointer in 12 consecutive games … Mitch Mascari has made at least one three-pointer in 28 of Northwest's 33 games this season ... Northwest has a pair of 500-point scorers this season in Wes Dreamer (543) and Bennett Stirtz (504) ... Stirtz has tallied 933 points in less than two seasons ... he is looking to become only the fourth Bearcat to reach 1,000 points in just two seasons (Trevor Hudgins - 1,338; Justin Pitts - 1,175; Joey Witthus - 1,150).