EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- With an 81-71 victory over Southern Indiana, Point Loma advanced to the national championship game as the Sea Lions led the entire game after NABC Division II Player of the Year Daulton Hommes made the first basket on Thursday in the Ford Center.

No. 6 seed Point Loma next faces No. 1 seed Northwest Missouri State on Saturday at noon (Pacific) in the championship. The Sea Lions enter the meeting with a 31-4 record, while Northwest Missouri State is an undefeated 36-0 this season. No. 7 seed Southern Indiana finishes its 2018-19 campaign with a 26-9 record.

Hommes' triple in the second minute of the game sparked a 10-0 run by Point Loma to open the game, and just 10 minutes later, that lead blossomed to 14 points on a putback by Preston Beverly. However, the Eagles chipped away on that lead until Point Loma led by only one point going into the break. That was the closest that Point Loma let Southern Indiana get to the national championship game.

Tanner Nelson made a 3-pointer and then Beverly knocked down a pair of jumpers to help the Sea Lions slowly build the lead back up to six points in the second half. Sterling Somers and Noah Stapes each knocked down treys as well with Stapes' shot pushing the lead back to double digits.

The Sea Lions' lead was cut down to four in the final two minutes of the game. Point Loma let the time run off the shot clock before Josh Rodriguez drove into the lane and made a lay-up to make the score 73-67 with a minute left. Rodriguez then made six free throws in the final minute as eight of his 10 points came in the final 67 seconds of the game.

Hommes finished the game with a team-high 20 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Ziggy Satterthwaite added 16 points and eight rebounds, while Beverly filled the stat sheet with 12 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Rodriguez tallied 10 points, seven assists and two steals.

Saturday's game against Northwest Missouri State will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.