Northern Iowa Wins Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Last Second Shot

While some college basketball conferences were finishing up the regular season on the weekend of March 5th-6th, others were already well into conference tournament play. In the Missouri Valley Conference, Northern Iowa took the crown for the second straight year, beating Evansville 56-54.

The Panthers had a halftime lead of 32-18, but Evansville came storming back in the second half and tied the score at 54-54 on a basket with 25 seconds left. Northern Iowa’s Wes Washpun took a last second shot for the win. The shot bounced high off the rim but came down through the basket and the Panthers advanced to the NCAA Tournament with an automatic bid for winning the conference tournament.

It was the second straight MVC Tournament championship and NCAA tournament berth for Northern Iowa. Last year the Panthers were the fifth seed in the East Regional and beat Wyoming before losing to fourth seeded Louisville. This season, the Panthers will roll into the Big Dance having won 12 of their last 13.