WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- On to the South Central Region final. The #7 SBU Bearcats advanced to the regional title game with a hard-fought 74-68 victory over the Dallas Baptist Patriots.

Matt Rogers narrowly missed a triple-double and finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and 8 blocks. D'Ante Harris led the 'Cats with 18 points. Johnnie Harris also had a double-double for SBU with 15 points and 10 boards. Wendell Mardis had 13 points, 7 boards and was a perfect 6-6 from the line, all coming in the last minute. Rogers also was strong at the line going 9-for-10.

“This was a great win over another outstanding Baptist institution,” joked SBU head coach Jeff Guiot after the contest. “Now our president gets bragging rights. We were fortunate to win. What their coaches have done in three years is amazing. They have a lot to be proud of.” Dallas Baptist in their third year of NCAA Division II basketball, and earned their first NCAA win with Saturday's victory over Central Oklahoma.

Mardis earned another start and came up big down the stretch, especially at the foul line. He commented on the 'Cats run to the regional title game. “Coach Guiot told us at halftime, that nobody outworks us. Our motto coming in was 120 minutes. We've got 80 down and 40 to go.”

Rogers continued to look stronger, in his second game back from illness. The MIAA MVP and South Central Region Player of the Year dominated the smaller Patriot lineup and threw down some thunderous dunks. “When I'm out on the floor, I don't even remember that I was sick,” said Rogers. “We came here to win it, and now we've got one game to go.”

Like Saturday's win over Angelo State, SBU (26-4) opened hot, starting the game 8-0 behind treys from D'Ante Harris and Brock and free throws from Rogers. The Bearcats would extend their first half margin to as much as 13 points, following a three from D'Ante Harris to make the score 25-12.

But the Patriots would battle back, closing the first half on a 16-6 run to make the halftime score 31-28 in favor of the second-seeded Bearcats.

Dallas Baptist would cut the lead to one with an early second half bucket and had several opportunities to tie or take the lead with the score 36-34. The 'Cats would extend their lead to ten points, following two baskets from Johnnie Harris and four free throws by Rogers.

But back came the feisty Patriots, who closed the margin to three on a jumper from Bryan Baumann with 12:34. SBU answered back, pushing the lead to nine at 50-41, before the Pats would come back again to close it 50-47 with 9:37 left. That was as close as DBU would get, though the deficit would remain under 10 until the last two minutes.

A three-pointer by Mardis with 1:55 left pushed the SBU lead to 10 points, but DBU would answer right back with a three of their own by Baumann. Another three by Jordan McGowen cut the lead to 67-62. Tomas Brock was unable to hit on two free throws but Rogers grabbed a key rebound. Mardis would hit both freebies to push the lead back to seven points and the Bearcats would hold on from there, going 7 of 8 from the line in the last minute of the game.

The Bearcats will now play the top-seeded Central Missouri Mules. The MIAA foes split their two meetings during the season, with each team winning on their home floor. The Bearcats were the MIAA regular season champions while the Mules were the MIAA postseason tournament winners. The South Central Region championship will be played Tuesday night, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the UCM Multipurpose Building.

Fans can purchase general admission ($8) seats or student general admission tickets ($3 with ID) in the SBU athletic office or by calling 417-328-1491. A fan charter bus will also be available. Game tickets are also available by calling the UCM box office at 660-543-4063.

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