EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team made NCAA Division II history by becoming the first program to produce three consecutive national championships with a 67-58 victory over the Augusta University Jaguars at the Ford Center.
Northwest junior point guard Trevor Hudgins put the Bearcats on his scoring back with a game-high 31 points. The Bearcat bench also provided a punch on both ends of the court. The Northwest bench out-scored the Augusta bench, 19-4. The Jaguars bench tallied four rebounds, while the Bearcat bench performers tallied 14 rebounds.
The Bearcats (34-5 overall) captured their third straight national championship, and fourth in five years, by holding off a second-half charge by Augusta (33-4 overall).
Augusta used the post play of 7-foot, 1-inch Tyshaun Crawford to build an 18-12 lead eight minutes into the contest. The Bearcats hit the Jaguars with an 11-2 run that included a pair of triples from Hudgins that gave Northwest a 23-20 lead with 6:40 remaining in the half. Hudgins continued his scoring assault in the final five minutes of the half as he accounted for 12 of Northwest’s final 14 points of the half. Hudgins tallied 22 first-half points one 8-of-15 shooting from the floor, including four three-pointers. The Bearcats closed the half on a 27-10 scoring run to take a 39-28 lead to the locker room. Northwest held Augusta to one made field goal in the final 10:40 of the first half. The Bearcats shot 57.7% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes on 15-of-26 shooting. Augusta was limited to 36.4% from the field (8-of-22)
Northwest looked to blow away Augusta in the first six minutes of the second half as the Bearcats opened up an 18-point cushion. Hudgins buried his fifth three-pointer of the game with 13:47 to play that gave Northwest a 52-34 advantage.
But credit the Jaguars who refused to wilt and began a comeback attempt. After Hudgins’s bucket with 13:47 remaining, the Bearcats did not make another field goal until Luke Waters scored on a layup with 6:54 to play. Waters’s basket ended a 10-0 run by the Jaguars. Waters missed his free throw attempt to close out the three-point play leaving Northwest with a 54-44 lead.
The Jaguars kept coming and would trim the Bearcat lead to a single point at 57-56 with 2:36 to play after a three-pointer from Miguel Arnold. Hudgins sank a pair of free throws with 2:24 to play to put the Bearcats back up three at 59-56. Crawford missed a shot in the paint and Waters corralled the rebound. Waters scored on the ensuing possession to open up a five-point lead at 61-56 with 1:42 to play. Arnold missed another shot for the Jaguars as the Bearcats claimed the rebound out of bounds.
Waters fired up a three near the close of the shot clock, but Mitch Mascari grabbed the offensive rebound and sank one of two free throws to take the margin back to six. Arnold misfired from three-point range and Mascari grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Mascari sank both free throws with :45.6 left to take the lead to eight at 64-56. Augusta scored with :12 left and fouled Wes Dreamer on the inbounds play. Dreamer made one of two with :12 left to close out the scoring and send the Bearcats into celebration.
Mascari played a season-high 28 minutes and he produced 11 points and four rebounds. Daniel Abreu played 19 minutes and added three points and five rebounds. Byron Alexander saw 25 minutes and he contributed with five points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Waters added 12 points and three steals.
NOTES: Hudgins became the MIAA’s all-time leading scorer as he surpassed UCM’s Bill Fennelly’s mark of 2,819 points from 1977-81 … Hudgins has recorded 2,829 points in his Bearcat career … Hudgins set the NCAA Division II single-season three-pointers record with 168 … Hudgins and Bernard moved their NCAA Tournament record to 17-0 … Northwest has won an NCAA Division II record 17 straight NCAA Tournament games … Northwest has won 24 of its last 25 NCAA Tournament contests … head coach Ben McCollum moved to 29-5 in NCAA Tournament games … McCollum has guided Northwest to national championships in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022 … Northwest is 40-20 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
