By David Boyce

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team ran into a squad that had the size and athleticism to keep the Bearcats out of any offensive rhythm for the entire Central Regional championship game.

The grit of the Bearcats was what kept Northwest close, but it wasn’t enough as Minnesota State University Moorhead ended Northwest’s season with a 47-42 victory Tuesday evening at the Sanford Pentagon.

Moorhead, 35-3, advances to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. Northwest finished its season 25-7.

“It was one of those games that defensively we were really locked in,” Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. “It was as good as we have played defensively all year, to hold a team with that much offensive firepower to 36 percent.

“Obviously, holding us to 28 percent made for an extremely ugly game. It was a game right within our grasp. They beat us. It wasn’t anything our kids did. They were the better team today.”

McCollum said seniors Matt Wallace and Grant Cozad stepped up and decided to be better than last year.

“They were,” McCollum said. “They led us to the first outright conference title in 30 years and three out of four conference championships and two Sweet 16s. These guys were pretty darn good for me.”

Despite the disappointment of falling short of winning the regional championship, the Bearcats have plenty to be proud of.

“It was always our goal to get back to the tournament and be as good as last year,” said Cozad, who finished with 15 points. “Matt and I talked about it. We wanted to get back to the Sweet 16 and make the Elite Eight and just try to win that national championship. It stinks not to get this win. We know as a team we could have beat them. It is heartbreaking, but that’s how it happens.”

Northwest lost five seniors off last year’s team that also reached the regional championship game. Coming into the season, the Bearcats were picked to finish fourth in the MIAA.

The Bearcats came into the regional seeded fourth. Northwest overcame a 14-point deficit in the quarterfinals and overcame a 10-point deficit in the semifinals against the No. 1 seed and host school, Augustana.

“I am extremely proud of our team and where they went through,” McCollum said. “If you told me at the beginning of the season that this was where we would be, it would have been hard to believe.”

Northwest was looking for one more upset. The Bearcats fell behind 24-18 early in the second half. Seven straight points by the Bearcats gave them a 25-24 lead. It appeared the second-half magic was back for Northwest.

Unfortunately, Moorhead was cool under fire. The Dragons slowly increased their lead to 39-29 with 7 minutes left. Northwest had trouble generating consistent offense against the Dragons defense.

“It was good, but it wasn’t anything we haven’t seen,” Wallace said. “We had quite a few open looks. They weren’t going in tonight.”

But this was where Northwest showed its guts. Even though shots weren’t falling, the Bearcats kept clawing. With 4 minutes left, Northwest pulled to within four at 39-35 on a layup by Justin Pitts, who finished with 13 points.

The Bearcats were playing great defense. The shot clock was running down when 6-foot-9 senior Isaac Sevlie stood at the top of the key and drilled a three-pointer to make it 42-35 with 3:40 left. Sevlie, who was picked the most valuable player of the tournament, was 0-7 on three-pointers entering the game.

“That kind of broke our backs,” McCollum said.

Back-to-back baskets by Pitts helped Northwest close to 42-39 with 44 seconds left. The Bearcats were forced to foul. Because they only had one team foul, it took them 6 precious seconds to reach six team fouls.

When senior Jordan Riewer went to the line, he made both. After a Northwest miss, Riewer was fouled again and made one, giving the Dragons a 45-39 lead with 25 seconds.

It is easy to look at the shooting percentage by both teams in the first half and think there was some poor shooting taking place. Forget it. Both teams played incredible defense.

Moorhead went into halftime with a slim 20-18 lead because it made the last shot just before halftime.

Northwest was just 6 for 23 from the field for 26 percent. Moorhead wasn’t much better, going 8 for 25 from the field for 32 percent.

The one player who kept Northwest close was Cozad, who was 4 for 5 from the field and scored 11 or the Bearcats’ 18 points.

“I have confidence in myself to hit that shot in any game we play,” Cozad said. “I got it going early. We couldn’t get those drives in the paint. Pitts couldn’t get in there. Conner couldn’t get in there. I tried to space out and they found me.”

— Northwest Sports Information —