The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats are on to the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Final Four after an Elite Eight win over Mercyhurst 55-51 on Wednesday afternoon.

Most of the game was a defensive battle with Northwest leading by just 2 at halftime 24-22. The Bearcats were able to build a small lead early in the second half and held the Lakers off at the end of the game. Mercyhurst cut the lead to 3 with under a minute to play but Atlantic native Ryan Hawkins grabbed a key rebound off a three point miss from the Lakers and the Bearcats made their free throws to hold serve.

Hawkins finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Trevor Hudgins lead the Bearcats with 20 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists. Northwest improves to 36-0 on the season and advances to the Final Four Thursday.

Mercyhurst was led by 17 points and 6 rebounds from Jason Massey. The Lakers end their season at 26-8.

The Bearcats will face St. Anselm in the Final Four on Thursday. Saint Anselm (25-5) beat Nova Southeastern on Wednesday 91-81 to advance. All games are being played at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

Other scores from Elite Eight action had No 7. seed Southern Indiana knocking off No. 2 seed West Texas A&M 94-84. The nightcap saw No. 6 Point Loma defeat Queens (NC) 87-74.

The Final Four schedule on Thursday will have Northwest Missouri State facing Saint Anselm at 6:00pm CT followed by Point Loma taking on Southern Indiana at 8:30pm. Both games will be televised on CBS Sports Network.