MARION, Ind. -- A seven minute stretch of no points for the Indiana Wesleyan University men?s basketball team ultimately doomed the Wildcats in a 71-68 loss to Spring Arbor (Mich.) University in the NCCAA Midwest Regional Final.

With the victory, Spring Arbor advances to the NCCAA national championships in Oakland City, Indiana.

The first half of action featured nine ties, seven lead changes and 37 free throw attempts.

Each team shot extremely well from the field in the first half. Indiana Wesleyan shot 57.9-percent (11 of 19) while Spring Arbor hit 63.2-percent (12 of 19). From the free throw line, IWU was 11-of-17 (64.7-percent) and the Cougars shot 16-of-20 (80.0-percent).

Neither team could stretch their lead to more than five points until the Cougars rattled off eight of the final nine points in the opening stanza to create a 43-36 halftime advantage.

Indiana Wesleyan (20-11) opened the second half with vengeance as the Wildcats connected on their first seven field goal attempts to produce a 17-2 run. IWU captured their largest advantage of the contest with a 53-45 lead and 16:06 remaining.

Spring Arbor (18-14) chipped away at the Wildcat lead until the Cougars only trailed by one point at 65-64. Indiana Wesleyan junior guard Antonio Murrell connected on two of his game-high 26 points to give IWU a 65-62 advantage with 8:44 left.

But Indiana Wesleyan could not find the basket for nearly seven minutes as Spring Arbor took advantage and earned their first lead since early in the second half at 69-65 as 1:48 remained.

Indiana Wesleyan pulled within one point following two Jon Moon free throws. Spring Arbor led 69-68. Following a flurry of fouls by Indiana Wesleyan, SAU made both free throws with 6.5 seconds to play as the Cougars led 71-68.

After an Indiana Wesleyan timeout, Will Hubertz found Moon waiting in the corner. Moon launched the potential game-tying 3-pointer but it only drew iron as Spring Arbor escaped with the regional championship.

IWU sophomore center Zach Coverstone scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the contest. Moon was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 11 points.

Spring Arbor was led by guard Kevin Ludwig?s 17 points.