No. 2 seed Southwest Minnesota State rallied from a nine-point deficit with less than nine minutes remaining in the game to earn a 74-70 victory over No. 3 seed East Central University (Okla.) in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament on Sunday night .

SMSU, which tied a school record for victories in a season, improves to 28-5 overall and will play in the region championship game and a berth into the NCAA Elite Eight on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

The opponent for SMSU is top seed and home standing Northwest Missouri State which knocked off Augustana in the other semifinal 74-53.