St. Louis, MO -- (Sports Network) - Adam Koch and Kwadzo Ahelegbe each scored 19 points, as Northern Iowa held off Indiana State, 73-69, in a quarterfinal matchup of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Ahelegbe also finished with seven rebounds and five assists for top-seeded Northern Iowa (21-10), whose semifinal opponent is fourth-seeded Bradley, who ousted fifth-seeded Southern Illinois, 67-55, on Friday.

The Panthers got 13 points from Ali Farokhmanesh, and are looking for their first MVC Tournament title since 2004.

Rashad Reed had a game-high 21 points for ninth-seeded Indiana State (11-21), which toppled Drake in Thursday's opening round. Jay Tunnell added 17 points and eight boards for the Sycamores in the loss.

Reed's jumper capped a back-and-forth first half, tying the game at 37 heading into the intermission.

The teams continued to swap the lead in the second half, but Indiana State got some separation just past the midway point. Brant Leitnaker made a free throw, and Aaron Carter followed with a three-pointer to give the Sycamores a 58-52 advantage with just under nine minutes to play.

A pair of Carter free throws with seven minutes on the clock made it a 60-56 Indiana State lead, but Northern Iowa responded with nine consecutive points to grab the lead back.

Farokhmanesh ended the run with a three-pointer, giving the Panthers a 65-60 edge with a little over 2 1/2 minutes left. The burst gave UNI the advantage going into the stretch -- Koch hit a floater with just over a minute to play for a 69-63 lead, and the Panthers held on from there.