The Missouri Western men’s basketball team struggled in the opening game of the 2012 season falling 64-53 against Northwest Missouri State in the fieldhouse. The Griffons battled all night but it wasn’t enough at the end falling to 6-6 overall and 1-5 in MIAA play.
The Bearcats came out on fire opening up an early 17-4 lead after a Jake Reinders jumper with 10:39 to play. Western held Northwest to just nine points the rest of the half cutting the Bearcat lead to one at 23-22 after a Reed Mells three. Kyle Haake hit a huge three at the end of the half giving Northwest the 26-22 lead at the break.
Mells led the way off the bench with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field. Western shot 34.6-percent (9-26) in the half. Northwest was led by Haake with 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting. The Bearcats made 9-of-16 field goal attempts for 56.3-percent.
The second half began like the first as the Bearcats jumped out to a 12 point lead at 37-25 lead after DeShaun Cooper hit a layup with 15:34 to play. The Griffons once again battled back cutting the Northwest led to four at 45-41 after consecutive three’s by James Harris and TJ Johnson with 8:39 to play.
The Bearcats outscored Western 19-12 the rest of the way improving to 11-1 overall and 5-1 in MIAA play. The Bearcats have won the last four games against Western.
Western finished shooting 34.0-percent (18-53) from the field but made just 9-of-15 free throw attempts. Western got outrebounded 35-to-23 and got outscored 16-6 in the paint. Alex Tuluka-Mfumupembe hit four three’s for the second consecutive game finishing with 12 points of the bench. Mells finished with 10 points.
Northwest finished making 21-of-38 field goals and 16-of-21 free throws. Cooper and Haake finished with 21 and 20 points respectively while Jake Reinders dumped in nine points and snared eight rebounds.
The Griffons return home on Saturday, January 7 to take on the Lincoln Blue Tigers in MIAA action. Game time is set for 3:30 pm from the MWSU Fieldhouse. This will mark the second of a three game home stand for the Griffons. If you can make the game listen to all the action on 680 AM KFEQ.
— MWSU Sports Information —