The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team is on to the Elite Eight after winning the NCAA Division II Central Region Final on Tuesday over Missouri Southern State 82-70.

The Bearcats struggled a bit early but Atlantic alum Ryan Hawkins helped Northwest keep pace by scoring the team’s first 13 points of the game. The Bear cats came alive when Joey Witthus hit a three with more than 11 minutes gone in the game to give the Bearcats the lead. Ryan Welty hit three straight long balls to spark a 17-4 run that put the Bearcats up by 9 at half.

Northwest was strong from the foul line in the second half to secure the win. Ryan Hawkins led all-scorers with 28 points. Freshman Trevor Hudgins finished with 22 and was 12-12 from the free throw line.

Kinzer Lambert had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Missouri Southern State as they finished the season 25-8.

Northwest improved to 35-0 on the season and will now head to Evansville, Indiana for the NCAA Division II Elite Eight March 27-30. The Bearcats will be the top seed in the Elite Eight and will face Mercyhurst in the Quarterfinal round at 2:30pm on Wednesday the 27th.

Ryan Hawkins and Joey Witthus were both named to the NCAA Central Region All-Tournament Team.