Box Score

MARYVILLE, Mo. – No. 2 seed Southwest Minnesota State rallied from a nine-point deficit with less than nine minutes remaining in the game to earn a 74-70 victory over No. 3 seed East Central University (Okla.) in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament on Sunday night at Bearcat Arena on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University.
 
SMSU, which tied a school record for victories in a season, improves to 28-5 overall and will play in the region championship game and a berth into the NCAA Elite Eight on Tuesday night versus No. 1 seed Northwest Missouri State at 7 p.m. SMSU won region championships in both 2001 and 2009.

ECU, winners of the Great American Conference regular season and tournament championships, ends its season at 25-8.
 
Ryan Bruggeman led the Mustangs with 29 points, while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists. He made nine of 16 from the field and 10 of 12 from the free throw line. Taylor Schafer added 15 points—13 in the second half—as the only other Mustang in double figures. Mitch Weg scored six points and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds.
 
SMSU finished the game shooting 43 percent (26 of 60) from the field and made five of 16 3-pointers. ECU shot 39 percent (25 of 64), while making eight of 18 from 3-point land.
 
ECU build an early 12-6 lead in opening five minutes, but then went scoreless for more than five minutes as SMSU put together an 8-0 run, with six coming from Bruggeman to build a 14-12 advantage with 10 minutes remaining.  
 
ECU would answer and take a 23-19 lead following a 3-pointer by Braxton Reeves, but Bruggeman answered with five straight points, including the team's first 3-pointer to regain the lead at 24-23 at the 4:25 mark.
 
The Tigers would take the lead back with four minutes remaining and would maintain the lead into halftime break at 34-33.
 
SMSU shot 42 percent in the opening half, but were just two of eight from 3-point range. ECU shot just 36 percent in the first half, but made four of eight 3-pointers and held a 23-21 rebound advantage.
 
Bruggeman led the Mustangs with 20 points in the first half.
 
ECU maintained the lead for a majority of the second half, including hold a 46-41 margin with 13 minutes remaining. The lead would build to 56-47 at the 8:47 mark following a 3-pointer by Reeves.
 
SMSU answered in a big way using an 11-2 run to tie the game at 58 with 6:58 left following back-to-back 3-pointers by Schafer.
 
ECU regained the lead with three straight points and later held a 64-62 advantage with 4:32 remaining before Schafer tied the game once again with two free throws at the 3:22 mark.
 
Schafer eventually gave SMSU the lead for good with 2:30 remaining with two more free throws to make the score 66-64.
 
The score remained 66-64 until 1:01 remaining when ECU's Reeves picked up a technical foul following a missed jumper. Schafer made one free throw to give the Mustangs a 67-64 lead. Weg would then make two free throws with 42 seconds left on the ensuing possession to push the lead to 69-64.
 
ECU answered with a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left, before Bruggeman countered making one of two free throws to make the score 70-67. Following a timeout by ECU, the SMSU defense forced a turnovers with 10 seconds left and Bruggeman was able to seal the game with two more free throws with six second remaining in the game.
 
KD Moore led the Tigers with 21 points, 17 rebounds and four assists. Reeves, the GAC Player of the Year, finished with 18 points, but just three in the second half.