In a highly entertaining game back-and-forth game, the No. 7 seed Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (15-18_ pulled off the 74-70 win over the No. 5 seed North Texas Mean Green for the 2012 Sun Belt Tournament championship and an automatic bid to the the NCAA Tournament. The Hilltoppers had to win four games in four nights to pull this off and are currently on a 6-0 winning streak. And let's not forget to mention that the school fired its head coach after a 5-11 start.
The Mean Green had at one point built a 13-point lead, 55-42, against the Hilltoppers, but just as quickly as it came it went away. Teeng Akol had the top performance with his 25 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. He was 9-of-12 from the field for the Hilltoppers.
George Fant and Kahlil McDonald were huge for Western Kentucky as well, scoring 17 and 14 points, respectively. They combined to go 13-of-13 from the free throw line, with the team 19-of-22 overall from the charity stripe.
North Texas was led by Tony Mitchell's 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, but their defense let them down, especially when they held that 13-point lead. Alzee Williams and Brandon Walton each chipped in 14 points while Jacob Holmen added 13 points.
Western Kentucky will now wait until Sunday to find its seed for the NCAA Tournament.
For updates on the tournament, stick with SB Nation Denver. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Basketball for more news and notes from around the college hoops world. Stay up to date with the 2012 Sun Belt Tournament bracket.