DUBUQUE, Iowa — The University of Dubuque defeated Wartburg College, 81-73, Saturday night in the championship game of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Men's Basketball Tournament, locking up the IIAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship for the second time in three seasons.

Box Score

Dubuque jumped out to a 7-0 lead and led by as much as 12 on two occasions in the first half, only to see Wartburg chip away at the advantage and trail by just three points (44-41) at halftime.

After the Knights cut the lead to 59-55 at the 9:18 mark, the Spartans's Andre Norris and Gage Heffernan combined to score the next nine points to push the lead to 13 at 68-55. A late 13-4 run by Wartburg trimmed the lead to four again at 72-68 with 1:41 remaining, but Dubuque hit nine of 12 free throws down the stretch to put the game out of reach.

Norris scored a game-high 24 points to lead four Spartans in double figures. He also had six rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals in 36 minutes. Heffernan added 18 points, Brandon Ferguson 15 and Lucas Ware 12.

Jordan Cannon led the Knights (15-13) with 22 points on 7-of-18 shooting and six rebounds. Nate Woeste and Nick Webber added 12.

Dubuque improves to 23-5 overall and will learn its first-round NCAA opponent and destination at 11:30 a.m. Monday when the NCAA announces the entire field and bracket during a selection show on NCAA.com.