CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The end of friday night's NCCAA Mid-East regional semifinal did not go as scripted by the Mid-Continent University men's basketball team, but when the clock reached all zeros, the Cougars found themselves where they needed to be.

Hiwassee College (8-24) used a furious comeback in the final moments of the game to trim the Mid-Continent lead to as few as three points, but Mid-Continent (18-13) managed to hang on thanks to 22-point efforts from Charles Pedenand Antonio Davis, claiming the win and a spot in Saturday's Regional final 95-90.

Hiwassee opened the game well, scoring the first five points, but Mid-Continent bounced back. Mid-Continent tied the game at 8-8 with 16:58 showing on the clock, and the Cougars slowly built a 20-14 lead. Hiwassee took advanage of an administrative technical foul to cut the deficit to 20-17, but Mid-Continent again responded, stretching their lead to as many as 11, 39-28, with 2:23 to go. Hiwassee trimmed into the deficit as the half wound down, but at intermission, Mid-Continent held a 42-36 lead. Hiwassee started the second half on an 11-6 spurt, trimming the Cougars' lead to 48-47. Mid-Continent answered with a 13-2 run of their own that spanned the next four minutes, as the Cougars stretched their advantage to 61-49. With 12:25 to play, Gavin Scott pushed the Cougars' edge to 15 at 66-51, the largest margin of the night for either team. Hiwassee chipped away in the closing moments, and pulled to within three at 91-88 with 47 seconds to play, but the Cougars tallied four of the game's final six points, taking the win 95-90.

Peden recorded a double-double with 22 points and 11 boards, while Antonio Davis tied him for the scoring lead with 22 points while dishing out eight assists. Lee Ames buried three 3-pointers in the game en route to a 19-point effort, Scott chipped in 14, and Larry Thompkins II added 10 in the win. As a team, Mid-Continent blistered the nets to the tune of 38-for-63 (60.3%), including 6-for-13 (46.2%) from long range. Mid-Continent did struggle from the foul line in the game, connecting on only 13-of-19 (68.4%) free throws.

The win earns the Cougars a place in the Mid-East Regional championship game, which will take place on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars will face the winner of the second semifinal between Union University (Tenn.) and Tennessee Temple University. Tip-off in the title tilt will be at 1 p.m. central time.