ELLENDALE, N.D.-- Men's Basketball is headed back to the NCCAA Division II National Tournament after defeating Faith Baptist Bible College, 89-77, in the region championship game. The Rams earned their victory on Saturday by overcoming a tough opponent who never quit and forced NCU to rely on team basketball to clinch their spot in the national tournament.

North Central (15-13, 5-0 NCCAA Region) trailed for large portions of the first half and Faith Baptist (Ankeny, Iowa) was determined to make things hard on the Rams. The Eagles led by as many as five points with 13:22 to go in the first half. Faith led by two before a three pointer from junior Cody Martin (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) gave the Rams their first lead of the game of the game at 22-21 at the 6:30 mark.

FBBC retook the lead on their next trip but senior Jordan Harrell (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the lead back to North Central. The Rams would never trail again. NCU found a bit of rhythm and senior Luke Chafin (Dayton, Ohio/Troy Christian) finished at the rim and hit a bonus free throw to give the Rams a 36-28 lead at the half.

North Central would come out of the locker room and move the difference out to their largest advantage of the game over the first five minutes of the second half. NCU led 53-36 with 15:30 to go but the Eagles refused to go away and the Rams would need big performances from several players to stay in control down the stretch to earn their place in the national tournament.

Jordan Harrell got a steal and breakaway for a dunk that made it 60-48 with 11:06 to go and it felt like the Rams might have momentum to begin pulling away. However, Faith worked all the way back to within 76-69 with 4 minutes left. Freshman Travis Voigt (Green Bay, Wis./N.E.W. Lutheran) hit a three pointer in response with 3:32 remaining and, although the Eagles answered back their next trip, the Rams had found the spark they needed to hang on down the stretch.

Junior Josh High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) scored on a drive and hit a three pointer a minute later to push the lead to 84-71 with 1:54 left and all by seal the game for NCU. Cody Martin hit a pair of free throws with a minute left and the Rams closed the door on any last second miracles for Faith Baptist.

Region MVP Luke Chafin posted a game high 22 points with 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Josh High scored 20 points to help balance the scoring ledger. Jordan Harrell added 17 points with 8 rebounds. Point guard Cody Martin was a key performer as well with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and just one turnover on the night.

The Rams will now await the annual NCCAA National Tournament seeding conference call later this weekend. The seeding will decide the opponents and shape the bracket for the 2015 NCCAA National Tournament. The national tournament will be hosted by Ohio Christian University (Circleville, Ohio) on March 11-14. Match-ups will be posted as soon as they are announced.