EMPORIA, Kan. – Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team blew two, double-digit leads in the first half and trailed the first 13 minutes in the second half.

It was quite the precarious position for the young Bearcats to be in for their MIAA opener on the road at Emporia State.

In the final 7 minutes, Northwest showed the composure of a veteran squad. The Bearcats played stellar defense, hit free throws and made several baskets in key moments.

All those things added up to an impressive 63-57 victory Wednesday night at historic White Auditorium.

“This is huge,” said Northwest sophomore Zach Schneider, who finished with 16 points. “That is about as big a confidence builder you can get in this league is a road win.”

The Bearcats, 6-1, will hit the road once again on Saturday, playing at Pittsburg State. They definitely want to build on what they achieved in crunch time at Emporia State.

Northwest stayed close to the Hornets most of the second half. Emporia State managed a little cushion at 46-41 with 7:34 left. The game was starting to slip away from the Bearcats.

At that moment, Schneider, who was 1-for-5 on three-pointers in the first half and was knocked to the ground while taking a charge in the second half, stepped up big time.

After he caught his breath and returned to the game, he promptly nailed a trey, bringing Northwest to within two at 46-44. Schneider followed that with a NBA-range three-pointer, giving the Bearcats their first lead in the second half at 47-46 with 6:32 left.

“The first half all of them felt good,” Schneider said. “I looked to keep shooting. That is one of my big roles on the team.”

Emporia State went back in front by one and that was when Northwest took the lead for good, starting at the free throw line. Junior Conner Crooker nailed two free throws that made it 49-48 in favor of Northwest with 5:16 left.

A minute later, Crooker made two more free throws, increasing Northwest lead to 51-48.

“I am pretty confident making free throws,” Crooker said. “I practice a lot. I like to be the one to step up and hit big-time free throws.”

He followed that about a minute later with a drive to the basket, giving the Bearcats a 53-48 lead with 3:20 left.

“It was definitely really big,” Crooker said. “I have been struggling all night. I was missing my shot. It felt good to go into the paint and make something happen, especially late in the game when it matters most.”

Northwest maintained control the rest of the way for an impressive conference road victory.

“They are a really good team,” Schneider said. “They came off two really good road wins in Texas. Especially for young team, this is going to be a big confidence booster down the road.

“We will be able to look back and see how we closed out a good team on the road.”

It was a complete team effort, from senior center Grant Cozad, who scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to freshman point guard Justin Pitts, who finished with a game-high 18 points.

In the first half, Northwest put together two nice spurts to twice build 10-point leads, but two lulls caused the Bearcats to go into halftime down 31-27.

The Bearcats started the game on fire from three-point range. Pitts hit a couple of treys. Schneider had one and in a blink of an eye, Northwest led 13-3.

Emporia State fought back and scored the next nine points, closing to 13-12. Northwest got hot again, scoring nine straight points for a 22-12 lead.

“I think it is a case of being young, honestly,” Crooker said. “We were still getting shots we wanted. We were inconsistent making them. Sometimes we lose concentration on defense.”

The rest of the first half, Northwest generated very little offense. Meanwhile, point guard Terrence Moore got hot for the Hornets. He broke the Bearcats’ 9-0 run with a basket.

Later, he scored four straight points, giving Emporia State its first lead at 23-22. A basket by Micah Swank completed an 11-0 run that put the Hornets up 25-22.

The Bearcats forged the first tie of the game on a three-pointer by Pitts, who was 3-for-4 from behind the arc in the first half. That basket didn’t stop the momentum by the Hornets. Emporia State scored the last four points in the first half.

— David Boyce, Northwest Sports Information —