By David Boyce
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Instead of cracking when it faced a breaking moment early in the second half, Northwest Missouri State found the mental toughness to quickly turn the momentum back in its favor.
The combination of refusing to surrender to the pressure Lincoln Memorial applied and tenacious defense led Northwest to a 79-67 victory over the Railsplitters Thursday evening in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship.
Lincoln Memorial, which played in the national championship game last season, finished the year 30-6.
“Lincoln Memorial has been here twice the last two years,” said Northwest coach Ben McCollum. “It says a lot about them and how well-coached they are. They were tough to defend and very difficult to score on.
“It was definitely a fun game. The difference was the second half we went to some different actions. Those actions we haven’t gone to this year. They worked. We were able to get some open looks and some layups. And throughout the game, we kept them off the offensive boards.”
Northwest, 34-1, will face Fairmont State. 34-2, at 2 p.m. CT Saturday at the Sanford Pentagon.
“I think it means a lot for the program because we worked so hard in preseason,” said Northwest junior Justin Pitts, who finished with a game-high 30 points. “Obviously, this was one of our biggest goals. As a team, we are just so happy we get to play for a national championship.”
Two minutes into the second half, Northwest was in trouble. Lincoln Memorial built a 40-34 lead, its biggest of the game.
Sensing the danger the Bearcats faced, McCollum called timeout. Northwest scored the next seven points to take a 41-40 lead. More importantly, it got the Bearcats back on track.
“You could kind of feel that momentum shift,” McCollum said. “I wanted to make sure I got the timeout quick enough. I think sometimes you make the mistake of waiting a little bit too long. Fortunately, we stopped it.
“I would like to say it was good coaching, but it wasn’t. The guys stopped doing the bad stuff. And then they started doing the good stuff again.”
Over the next 7 minutes, the lead changed eight times. Northwest didn’t take the lead for good until senior Zach Schneider hit his third three-pointer of the half that put Northwest ahead 51-49.
“He is a difficult player to defend because it requires so much concentration,” McCollum said. “When he gets going, it becomes that much more difficult. He is a senior. He is playing like a senior should. He is making the most out of his opportunities. That is what he did tonight. He stepped up and hit four big shots.”
An inside basket by senior D’Vante Mosby followed by a bucket by Pitts solidified the Bearcats’ lead at 55-49.
Twice Lincoln Memorial closed to two at 55-53 and then at 57-55. Northwest scored the next seven points. The key basket was a three-pointer by junior Xavier Kurth, which pushed Northwest’s lead to 64-55.
“Obviously, that shot was a backbreaker,” McCollum said. “The big thing for him was once he got on No. 20 (Luquon Choice), I don’t think 20 scored much if any after that,” McCollum said. “I think that was a huge difference in the game.”
Indeed. Choice scored 12 in the first half and finished with 17.
The dagger from Northwest came with 3:05 left when Schneider floated out beyond the NBA three-point arc and drilled his fourth trey of the half that gave Northwest a 68-57 lead.
In the first half, very little separated the two teams. Lincoln Memorial took a 33-32 lead into halftime because it basically had the ball last. Freshman Deshawn Patterson made two free throws with 1.8 seconds left to give the Railsplitters the one-point lead.
The game started well for Northwest. The Bearcats jumped to a 14-4 lead. But Choice quickly got his team on track with a three-pointer.
Within a few minutes, Lincoln Memorial closed to one at 16-15 and then forged its first tie since it was 2-2 at 25-25. From that point on, there were four lead changes and two ties.
— Northwest Athletics —