Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team grabbed control and built a six-point lead only to see Iowa Wesleyan storm back and tie the game.
If this occurred in the final 5 minutes of the game, real drama would have developed Tuesday evening at Bearcat Arena.
Instead, it was the opening 10 minutes. Northwest needed a few trips up and down the court to shake off the rust from finals week.
After Iowa Wesleyan failed on a couple of trips to take the lead, the Bearcats hit their stride, reeling off 26 straight points. They hit three-pointers, mid-range jumpers and a few baskets in the paint.
Northwest went into halftime with a commanding 32-point lead and strolled to an 89-53 victory.
It was the perfect tonic for the Bearcats, who improved to 7-2 overall. They needed a blowout after a 69-67 loss at Pittsburg State on December 6. All 10 players on the active roster scored for the Bearcats.
“It is always good to develop some depth,” Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. “In these games when you are up 25 or 30, you really need to play and do what you do in practice daily instead of trying to show out. Some of our guys played to their strengths and may have earned some playing time.”
The one-sided nature of the game allowed Northwest to regain confidence and give the bench players some valuable minutes before returning conference play on Saturday at home against Fort Hays State.
On Tuesday evening, the Bearcats did what they were supposed to do against a smaller, NAIA team.
Early on, the Tigers showed some fight, taking leads of 2-0 and 6-5. Northwest appeared to be in complete control when it grew its lead to 17-11.
Iowa Wesleyan knocked down a couple of three-pointers and found itself tied with Northwest at 17-17.
The Bearcats even gave Iowa Wesleyan a couple of chances to take a lead midway through the first half.
“Our main focus last week was to come out with great energy from the start,” said sophomore Zach Schneider. “Obviously, we didn’t do that, but it was nice to turn it around in the last 10 minutes. If we play like that every time and consistently over 40 minutes, we are going to be a really good basketball team.”
Once the Bearcats found their intensity, they went on a run that dashed any hopes of Iowa Wesleyan pulling off a monumental upset.
The 26-0 run started with a three-pointer by Schneider. Junior Conner Crooker followed with a three-pointer. Sophomore Anthony Woods joined the scoring party with a basket, which started a run of points inside the three-point arc.
Crooker’s three-pointer a few minutes later put Northwest ahead 32-17. Several minutes later, senior Grant Cozad concluded the consecutive-points run with a basket, giving the Bearcats a 43-17 lead.
From the time it was tied at 17-17 to the end of the first half, Northwest outscored the Tigers 34-2 for a 51-19 halftime advantage.
“The second 10 minutes of the first half we went back to who we are,” McCollum said. “We defended quite a bit better.”
Northwest coaches couldn’t ask for better shooting from the Bearcats. Northwest went 20 for 30 from the field for 67 percent. That percentage matched what they did from behind the arc, hitting 8 of 12.
All nine players who saw action in the first half scored at least one basket.
“It felt good. It was definitely a confidence booster,” said sophomore Anthony Woods, who finished with eight points.
Schneider was 4 for 4 from the field and three of those baskets were three-pointers.
Crooker mixed in two three-pointers with three drives into the paint for field goals. Freshman Justin Pitts went 4 for 6 from the field.
Defensively, Northwest was solid after it surrendered 17 points. The Bearcats held Iowa Wesleyan to 36 percent shooting from the field in the first half.
Northwest maintained a 30 to 40-point lead through much of the second half.
Schneider and Pitts each scored 15, Crooker and Cozad both added 12.
“Mainly, we wanted to go out and play our game,” Woods said. “We have to get back to practice, stay focused and come out Saturday ready to play from the start with intensity. It all starts with practice.”
— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —