SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 1 seed Augustana University men's basketball defeated No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri State University (27-6) 80-78 in front of 3,221 fans at the Sanford Pentagon Tuesday night in the NCAA Central Region Championship to advance to the Elite Eight in Frisco, Texas March 23-26.
 
Augustana will be making its first ever appearance in the Elite Eight after winning the program's first ever NCAA Region Championship.
 
The Vikings improve to 31-2 on the season with the win, tying the program record for wins in a season which was previously set in 2014-15.


 
Sophomore guard Jordan Spencer hit two free throws with 4.6 seconds left to give Augustana an 80-78 lead and John Warren came up with a huge steal on Northwest Missouri State's inbound pass to seal the victory for the Vikings.
 
Northwest Missouri State's Justin Pitts scored five straight points for the Bearcats to tie the game at 78 with 27 seconds remaining in the game giving the Vikings the chance to hold for the last shot. Spencer drove to his right to the hoop and was fouled hard with 4.6 seconds left. Officials went to the monitor to review the foul for a flagrant but it was ruled just a shot foul.
 
Spencer knocked down the two free throws and Warren stepped in front of a pass to NWMSU's Conner Crooker and swatted the ball into Casey Schilling's hands. Schilling tossed the ball into the air in celebration and the Vikings took home the region title in front of a home crowd.
 
Augustana finished the game shooting 54.8 percent from the field after shooting 48 percent in the first half. Northwest Missouri State shot a blistering 60.4 percent from the field but the Vikings stretched their lead at the free throw line knocking down 23 of 28 attempts from the line.
 
Schilling led the Vikings with 24 points and six rebounds to go along with two blocks and a steal. Spencer added 17 points and eight assists. Daniel Jansen finished the night with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists and set a new single season scoring mark. Jansen has scored 683 points in 2015-16, breaking his own record of 671 points from last season.
 
Alex Richter pitched in with 10 points, two rebounds and two assists finishing 3 of 6 from the field, knocking down 3 of 5 from behind the arc.
 
Justin Pitts led Northwest Missouri State with 34 points on 13 of 20 shooting. Conner Crooker added 19 points for the Bearcats.
 
The much anticipated back and forth battle lasted the entire first half before the Vikings were able to take the lead two minutes into the second half and hold it until 26 seconds remaining in the contest.
 
The first half saw eight tie scores as the Vikings were able to take a one point lead at 38-37 at the half.
 
Northwest Missouri State got two early 3-pointers from Crooker and Pitts to take a one point lead early in the second half but Spencer answered with a triple and sparked an 11-3 run, allowing the Vikings to take a seven-point lead at 50-43.
 
Pitts hit another 3-pointer with 12:50 remaining in the game to get his team within one but the Vikings had the response again when Adam Beyer knocked down his only 3-pointer of the game to spark an 11-4 run giving Augustana its largest lead of the night at 66-58 with 6:45 to play.
 
The two teams continued to trade runs as the Bearcats were able to get within two but quickly the Vikings pushed it back to eight at 75-67 with 2:28 to go.
 
Pitts scored nine points in the final two minutes of the game to tie the game but Spencer hit two clutch free throws and Warren came up with the steal on the defensive end that would send the Vikings to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.
 
The Elite Eight match-ups will be announced later this week as the NCAA Division II basketball committee will re-seed the eight region champions.