No.4 Northwestern College dropped a heart-breaker at the hands of No.1 seed Indiana Wesleyan, 77-75, in the second round of the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship played today in Point Lookout, Mo.

Tied at 75 after Northwestern junior guard Colton Kooima drained a long three-pointer with 26 seconds left, Indiana Wesleyan guard Joel Okafor drew a foul after a hard drive and made 1-of-2 free throws with two seconds left. The Red Raiders turned it over on the inbounds pass and after a foul, Ben Carlson made one free throw for the game's final point.

Indiana Wesleyan opened up an early seven-point lead (18-11) only to have Northwestern fire off 14 straight points, 12 on four three-pointers by Riley Francis (1), Parker Mulder (1) and Colton Kooima (2). With the Red Raiders still up seven (38-31), IWU scored the final five points of the half, the final on a three-pointer by Peters, to cut the lead down to 38-36.

The Wildcats continued their run into the opening minutes of the second half, outscoring Northwestern 11-2 to retake the lead 47-40. IWU stayed in front, never by more than seven, until a Mulder three-pointer knotted the game at 64.

Indiana Wesleyan responded with the next eight points and seemingly put the Red Raider out of it with four minutes left. Northwestern charged right back and tied it again (72-72) with another Mulder three-pointer. Both teams knocked down three's, one by Peters for IWU and Kooima for NW for another tie at 75, setting up the final drive that sent Okafor to the line with two seconds left.

Kooima led Northwestern with 21 points, knocking down five three-pointers, despite being hounded by the IWU guards. Derek Buysse scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Mulder added 11. The Red Raiders held a huge edge on the glass, 46-26 but shot just one free throw (0/1) compared to 9/15 for IWU.

IWU shot 46% for the game and from beyond the arc (10/22). Seniors Bob Peters and Lane Mahurin carried the load offensively for IWU, scoring 22 and 21 points, respectively.

Indiana Wesleyan improved to 8-1 in second round games and advance to play in its fourth consecutive quarterfinal. The defending champions improve to 29-7 heading into Saturday's match-up against either No.2 Robert Morris (Ill.) or No. 6 Tabor (Kan.).

Northwestern's season closes with a 27-7 overall record, most wins since the 2007-08 season (30-5). 

By the Numbers/Milestones:

Northwestern continued its dominance on the boards vs IWU; the Red Raiders held the edge on the glass in all but three games

This game is believed to be the first in history where Northwestern did not make a free throw; also the fewest free throw attempts ever.

Kooima passed Kevin Van Veldhuizen for 10th place all-time in career scoring (1,729pts); he also passed Walker Seim into fifth place with 222 career 3pters

Jordan Baker passed Ben Miller into fourth place all-time with 920 career rebounds

This is the final game for the six seniors:

Jordan Baker-20th all-time in scoring (1,421pts), 4th in rebounding (920)
Justin Van Kalsbeek-526pts, 358 rebounds
Mading Thok-152pts, 111 rebounds
Blake Riggen-63pts, 21 rebounds
Student Coach Ryan Christy
Manager Megan Burmakow