SPRINGFIELD, Mass. --- When Augusta State fell down by 14 midway through the second half, All-American senior forward Tyrekus "A.J." Bowman huddled the players together.

"I just told them we've come this far, we've been in this situation many times and we've overcome them," Bowman said. "I told them we just have to keep believing."

Believe, they did.

Garret Siler matched a career high with 31 points Wednesday as the 10th-ranked Jaguars rallied for a 106-104 double-overtime win over No. 21 Central Oklahoma at the MassMutual Center.

"This," Augusta State coach Dip Metress said, "is one of those ESPN Classic games."

Augusta State (26-6) continues to make school history as it advances to its first Final Four. The Jaguars will face No. 4 Alaska-Anchorage (29-5) at 6 p.m. today with a trip to the Division II Tournament national championship game on the line. The semifinal game will be on CBS College Sports Network.

Augusta State staved off defeat on multiple occasions, and even overcame Metress' first technical foul of the season. The Jaguars trailed by 11 in the first half. They trailed by 10 with 4:52 remaining. They trailed by eight with 1:54 left in regulation. They trailed by six with three minutes to go in the first overtime.

Each time, they bounced back with help from about 150 Augusta State fans in attendance.

"I'm thinking, 'Dang these people rode 16 hours by bus and they're going to have to turn around and go home at 2 in the morning,' " Metress said. "We had people persevere on a very long bus ride, and you hate to see them go home, too."

In the first Elite Eight game to reach double overtime since 1999, Augusta State persevered with many heroes.

Demetrius Howard scored 16 of his 21 points after halftime. Howard drilled three 3-pointers in the final 4:12, including consecutive 3-pointers in the final 77 seconds to pull Augusta State with one.

"If it wasn't for Dee Howard, we wouldn't be here," said Metress, whose team improved to 3-0 in overtime this season.

Bowman scored 17 of his 22 points after halftime, playing the final 12:09 in regulation as well as the two overtime periods with four fouls. He hit the game-tying free throw with 10.8 seconds left in regulation. Bowman later scored six in a row in the final minute of the first overtime. He then opened the second overtime with a 3-pointer.

"It was just getting into the motion of the game," Bowman said of his slow start.

"I might have been trying to do too much. This is our first Elite Eight. I might have been too excited. Before the game, they were telling me to calm down."

Likewise, Siler said he had to calm his nerves. The Division II field-goal percentage leader at 76 percent, was 3-for-8 at halftime before making his final eight shots.

"Honestly, I was just kind of excited and nervous," said Siler, who now has 996 career points. "This is a big stage. I didn't have so much of a good game my last game. I guess I was just trying to overcompensate."

Central Oklahoma had no match for the 6-foot-11, 304-pound Siler. The Jaguars kept feeding him inside in overtime and he responded with 10 points.

His offensive rebound and dunk staked Augusta State to a 105-102 lead in the second extra period.

"He just really dominated us inside and opened up a lot of three-point opportunities for them doing that," Bronchos coach Terry Evans said. "They've got another outstanding player in Bowman that makes them a really good team."

Central Oklahoma, the Lone Star Conference champion and South Central Regional winner, was able to open up a lead in the first half with its 1-3-1 defense. The Jaguars, who had not seen that defense before this season, started hitting some shots in the second half and got the Bronchos out of that set.

Central Oklahoma found success from the perimeter with nine of its 10 players shooting at least one 3-pointer, seven of them making at least one. The Bronchos shot 15-for-43 from the perimeter, taking 10 more attempts than any Augusta State opponent all season.

The Jaguars held Central Oklahoma to 41 percent shooting from the field. Third-team All-American Sam Belt scored 22 (two in overtime), while Brian Walker had 23 for the Bronchos.

"We weren't able to do some of the things we wanted to do with the big man (Siler) inside," Evans said. "They were allowed to do quite a bit. It was a real physical game. Our league's pretty physical, but not as physical as it was today."

Central Oklahoma had two chances to win the game in regulation and in the first overtime. With 3.1 seconds to go in regulation, Augusta State's Daniel Dixon blocked a shot from the perimeter. The Bronchos' Lance Harper missed a shot at the buzzer.

In the first overtime, Central Oklahoma's John Neal got the ball in the right corner with three seconds remaining but failed to get off a shot.

Augusta State entered the second overtime period confident, despite Howard and Dixon on the bench with five fouls.

"By the second overtime, we said we're going to get this one," said Augusta State guard Ben Madgen, who scored 18. "We were all fouling out and getting to be tired. When A.J. hit that three to start overtime I was just like, 'Oh yeah, this is ours.' "

Caleb Brown converted a three-point play to give the Jaguars a six-point lead with 2:47 left in overtime. But Central Oklahoma responded with a 3-pointer and a layup.

Augusta State led by two when Steve Smith, who had six assists and no turnovers, had a chance to clinch the game with two free throws with 4.5 seconds remaining. He missed them both and Belt grabbed the rebound. But Smith knocked the ball free from Belt and Jaguar forward Luke Tambon grabbed the loose ball as time expired.

"Coach always told us if we make a mistake not to hang our heads but just to get it back," Bowman said. "Steve stepped up after the free throw and made a good defensive play. That's what we pride ourselves on. We have good offensive players, but we pride ourselves on defense."

"I didn't think he was going to miss them both; we thought he'd make one of them," Metress said. "To look up at the clock and see it was over ... good Lord."