ST. LOUIS -- Tyler Chaney and Deke Thompson scored 16 points each to lead Southwest Missouri State to a 70-62 win over Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Saturday.
Chaney triggered a 14-1 run midway through the second half that put the Bears (17-11) in front 51-45. His 3-pointer with 9:31 left put Southwest Missouri on top to stay at 46-45. Chaney then added a short jumper and Anthony Shavies followed with a 3-pointer.
Northern Iowa (21-10) came within 60-57 on a pair of free throws by Grant Stout. Thompson then hit a 3-pointer to put the Bears in control at 63-57 with 49 seconds remaining.
Nathan Bilyeu added 11 points and 11 rebounds for Southwest Missouri.
Stout led Northern Iowa, the defending tournament champion, with 19 points. Southwest Missouri recorded its third successive win and its 10th victory in the last 13 games.
Eric Coleman had 14 points for Northern Iowa and Erik Crawford added 12. Ben Jacobson, the league's leading scorer at 18 points per game, was held to just eight points, shooting 2-of-12.
It was only the third time Jacobson was held to less than 10 points in a game this season. The game was a rematch of last year's championship, which Northern Iowa won 79-74 in double overtime.
Fifth-seeded Southwest Missouri will face top-seeded Southern Illinois in a semifinal game Sunday. Fourth-seeded Northern Iowa had won both regular-season meetings between the two schools.
