On to the South Central Region final for the host and #6 Central Missouri Mules who will be taking on MIAA foe and the #7 team in the country the Southwest Baptist University Bearcats in the regional title game Tuesday night.
The Bearcats advanced with a hard-fought 74-68 victory over the Dallas Baptist Patriots. att Rogers narrowly missed a triple-double and finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and 8 blocks. D’Ante Harris led the ‘Cats with 18 points.
SBU head coach Jeff Guiot said. "We were fortunate to win. What their (Dallas Baptist) coaches have done in three years is amazing. They have a lot to be proud of." Dallas Baptist in their third year of NCAA Division II basketball, and earned their first NCAA win with Saturday’s victory over Central Oklahoma.
The Central Missouri Mules drilled 13 three-pointers and advanced to the regional title game with an 80-72 win over No. 21 Midwestern State on Sunday night.
Top-seeded Central Missouri (28-4) jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first five minutes thanks to a couple threes by junior guard Alex Moosmann. It was only the start of a big night for Moosmann, who scored a career-high 25 points, and finished with five threes. Moosmann and Tremaine Luellen led UCM with 12, and 10 at the half, respectively. The Mules hit 9-of-16 threes in the first half, while MSU was held to 35% percent from the floor.
The Mules’ lead hovered around 10-12 points until UCM pushed it to 16 on a with 5:30 left. Central Missouri stayed in control despite a flurry of five threes in the final 1:18 by MSU senior guard Nolan Richardson. He could only get the Mustangs within six with nine seconds remaining, but the Mules hit 12-of-14 from the line during the stretch to seal the win.
Central Missouri will face the second-seeded Southwest Baptist Bearcats on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Building for the South Central Region Championship.
