Malik Willingham scored 30 points and Kyreese Willingham had 22 as the host and top-seeded Minnesota State Mankato men's basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division II Central Region final Sunday, beating NSIC rival Minnesota State Moorhead 78-55.
Malik Willingham scored 20 points in the first half, shooting 8-for-13 from the floor, including 4-for-5 from three-point range, as the Mavericks (31-2) led 39-28 at halftime. They play Northwest Missouri State on Tuesday for the region championship.
JaMir Price scored 18 points for the Dragons (25-6), who lost their only regular-season meeting to the Mavericks 81-78 in Mankato on Jan. 27.
Northwest Missouri State 71, Minnesota Duluth 62: Bennett Stirtz scored 21 points as the second-seeded Bearcats (29-4) beat the third-seeded Bulldogs (26-7) in Mankato for their 18th victory in a row. Drew Blair had 21 points for Minnesota Duluth.
• The seventh-seeded Minnesota State Mankato women's team (28-5) plays at top-seeded Southern Nazarene (30-2) on Monday night in Bethany, Okla., for the Central Region championship. The Mavericks are in their fourth regional final and first since 2009. They lost to Southern Nazarene 73-56 on Nov. 10 in St. Joseph, Mo., as part of the Regional Crossover Challenge.
