The No. 22 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team erased a double-digit deficit in the second half and converted a pair of late 3-pointers Friday night to defeat Northwestern (Minn.) 85-81 in a thrilling first-round contest in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship at Kachel Gymnasium.

The Warhawks (22-6 overall) advance to Saturday's second round to take on Augustana (Ill.), a 77-74 winner over St. Thomas (Minn.) on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer earlier on Friday night.

Trailing by two with in the final minute of regulation, junior forward Scotty Tyler drilled a long 3-pointer to give UW-Whitewater its first lead of the second half at 80-79 with 51 seconds on the clock.

After converting a steal on the other end, the Warhawks turned it back over to the Eagles (20-8), who made a layup on a long outlet pass to take an 81-80 advantage with 10 seconds left.

UW-Whitewater quickly moved the ball up the floor, and junior Chris Jones looked to the corner in front of the Warhawks' bench and found sophomore guard Maurquis Turner, who drilled a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to give the team an 83-81 lead.

Sophomore guard Andre Brown deflected Northwestern's first pass attempt out of bounds, and the Eagles hit the ceiling on their next pass attempt with 0.3 seconds to play to give the ball back to UW-Whitewater.

Fittingly, Turner was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to seal the contest.

The Warhawks shot 56.9 percent for the contest, including 63.3 percent (19-of-30) in the second half to offset the Eagles' 54.8 percent shooting performance. UW-Whitewater also hit 10-of-21 from 3-point range.

Sophomore guard/forward Derek Rongstad tallied 20 of his career-high 29 points in the second half and added seven rebounds. Tyler finished with 18 points and six rebounds, and junior guard Chris Jones registered 16 points, four rebounds and a season-high eight assists. Turner finished with 12 points and two steals.

The Warhawks took a 23-22 lead midway through the first half on a 3-pointer by Rongstad, but quickly fell behind as the Eagles scored 10 of the next 12 points to take a 32-25 advantage with 5:54 on the clock.

Rongstad brought UW-Whitewater to within five with 54 seconds remaining on another 3-pointer, but Northwestern hit a pair of free throws nine seconds later and held onto its 42-35 advantage heading into the break.

The Eagles continued their strong offensive play early in the second half, taking a 55-45 lead with 12:54 to go.

Tyler, Turner and Rongstad each hit 3-pointers over the next five minutes, and Tyler punctuated the Warhawks' run with a dunk to bring the team to within 64-61 at the 6:34 mark.

Northwestern extended its lead back to eight with 4:06 to play, but Rongstad scored UW-Whitewater's next 13 points, including a trio of 3-point plays, to make it 77-77 with 1:19 remaining and set up the team's late-game heroics over the final minute of play.

Saturday's game will be the eighth all time between Augustana and UW-Whitewater. The two teams last met on Dec. 2, 2015, when the Vikings bested the Warhawks 75-55 at Kachel Gymnasium.