Maryville, Mo. -- Skyler Bowlin scored 10 points in the final two minutes as the Missouri Southern Lion rallied nine down to defeat the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats 89-81 in overtime Saturday afternoon (Feb. 27) in Maryville, Mo.

The Lions will be the sixth seed and face the third seed Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks on Friday night (Mar. 5) at 8:15 at the Municpal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

A layup by Arunas Simanvicius put the Bearcats up 68-59 with 2:01 left before the Bowlin and the Lions began their charge. 

Bowlin then converted a three-point play that cut the lead to six and then hit a three that made it a two-point game with 53 seconds left.

The Lions trailed 75-71 when Keane Thoman scored to make it a two-point game and Bowlin hit a game-tying layup with 15 seconds left to force overtime.

DaRell Crittendon put the Lions on top in the overtime period with a layup and Mariun Price nailed a trey for a five-point lead with 3:32 left.

The lead was 82-79 for the Lions when Jason Adams hit a three and Price made two free-throws for an eight-point lead at the 44 second mark.

Price then made four more freebies down the stretch to seal the victory for the Lions.

The Lions led 30-27 at the half when the Bearcats opened the second half on an 8-3 spurt to take a two-point lead.

Crittendon and Rich Borries teamed up to score the game's next nine to help the Lions jump back on top 43-35 with 15:04 remaining.

The Lions led 49-44 with 11:06 left but the Bearcats outscored the Lions 20-4 over the next six minutes to surge to a double-digit lead of 64-53 at the 5:26 mark of the second half. 

Bowlin had a team-high 21 for the Lions (17-10, 11-9 MIAA) and hit all seven of his free-throw attempts.  Price scored 20 and Adams added 13. 

DeShaun Cooper led the Bearcats with 21, while Elijah Allen had 18 and game-highs of 11 rebounds and seven assists.  Girdon Adams finished with 15 for the Bearcats (12-15, 7-13 MIAA).