INA, Ill. -- The third time was a charm for Southwestern Illinois. 

The Blue Storm, after two losses to Wabash Valley during the regular-season, won the game that mattered, 71-61, in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Central District/Region 24 men's basketball tournament at Rend Lake College in Ina on Monday night. 

Southwestern, seeded third in the nine-team tournament, scored the final five points of the first half to take a 28-23 lead into the locker room. They continued their run into the second half, with the first seven points resulting in a 35-23 advantage with 17:24 left. 

And that, as it turned out, was the ballgame. 

The sixth-seeded Warriors made just one serious run after that, pulling to within five points, 45-40, on a Jakobi Heady 3-point field goal with 9:29 left. 

Southwestern answered with a seven-point run of its' own to take control for good, 52-40. The largest Blue Storm lead of 14 points came later, at 68-54 with 1:18 remaining.  

The Warriors dominated the boards in the first half, by a 23-13 rebound margin, but they were guilty of 10 turnovers, three on offensive charge calls. 

WVC held a 15-10 lead in the first half, its' biggest of the night. But the Slue Storm went on a 9-1 run to erase their deficit and take a 19-16 lead. 

Isaac Wodajo's Warriors put four players in double figures: Gary Clay (15 points), Ksuan Casey (13), Heady (11), and Jalen Boyd (11). 

Next up for Southwestern (21-10) is a 7 p.m. Wednesday game against second-seeded Vincennes in the semifinals.

Wodajo will lose eight players from his first Warrior team to graduation. 

Here is the updated NJCAA Central District tournament schedule, including Monday quarterfinal scores. 

Monday's Results 

John A. Logan 86, Lewis & Clark 61 

Olney Central 72, Kaskaskia 71 

Vincennes 79, Lake Land 67 

Southwestern 71, Wabash Valley 61 

Wednesday's Schedule (All times CST) 

5 p.m. - John A. Logan vs. Olney Central 

7 p.m. - Vincennes vs. Southwestern 

Friday's Schedule 

6 p.m. - Championship game