By David Boyce
MARYVILLE, Mo. – In a game it never trailed in, Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team definitely would have preferred to beat Fort Hays State in regulation.
But the Bearcats showed their grit and resiliency to overcome blowing a 13-point lead late in the second half and pulling it together in overtime for an impressive 74-66 victory Saturday evening at Bearcat Arena.
Christmas will certainly be merry for the Bearcats and their enthusiastic fans who showed up for an instant MIAA classic. The win sent Northwest into Christmas break 8-2 overall and 2-1 in conference.
“It is always nice to go into our seven days off with a positive memory, going out with a win, especially a big win against Hays,” said Northwest senior guard Matt Wallace. “If you lose, it is on your mind Christmas Day, thinking, man, we dropped that one.”
Leading only 52-48 with 8:04 left in the game, Northwest put on a clinic of doing the right things to increase its lead. It started with a nice pass from freshman Justin Pitts that led to an easy layup by senior Grant Cozad.
On the next offensive possession, junior Conner Crooker went strong to the basket for a layup, making it 56-48. Sophomore Zach Schneider followed with three free throws after he was fouled on a three-point shot.
And with 3:44 left, Cozad scored on another layup after receiving a great pass from Schneider, making it 61-48.
“When you know you have shooters on the wings that can knock it down, it makes our offense run that much smoother,” Cozad said. “We get the ball moving and Pitts is a playmaker. He can drive in the lane and give our shooters on the wing open shots. That helps our inside-outside game that much more.”
The Bearcats looked like they had the game won, but Fort Hays battled back. The Tigers were down 62-58 with one minute left and then proceeded to tied things up at 64 with 10 seconds remaining on a three-pointer by Jeremy Wilson.
Pitts potential game-winning three-pointer bounced off the front of the rim, sending the game into overtime.
The momentum rested with Fort Hays. Northwest, though, had something working in its favor.
“We knew since we were up the whole time, we knew we could get back up in overtime,” Crooker said.
Cozad put Northwest back in front with two free throws. The lead grew to five on a three-pointer by Crooker with 2:57 left in overtime.
“It was a big shot but Zach also hit a big one,” Crooker said. “It was big for me because I missed a couple earlier and I was a little shaky on my confidence.”
With 1:09 left, a three-pointer by Schneider gave Northwest a 72-66 lead and sealed the victory.
Pitts finished with 19 points, Schneider scored 18, Cozad had 17 and Crooker added 15.
“This helps us a lot and it is going to help us down the road,” Wallace said. “If we did this at the beginning of the season and got into overtime, we probably would have lost. It shows how much we have grown, coming back after messing up a few times. We are going to grow on that and keep getting better.”
Northwest never trailed in the first half, but went into halftime with a narrow 36-33 lead.
Through the midway portion of the first half, the Bearcats played as well as they possible could at this point in the season. When they took their lead from 12-9 to 25-11, four different players scored.
On the defensive end, Northwest forced Fort Hays into rushing its shot and the Bearcats were in position for the rebounds.
Fort Hays, though, is too good to be blown out of a conference game in the first half. The Tigers stormed back, scoring 12 straight to make it 25-23.
Northwest stopped the run with a three-pointer by Zach Schneider, making it 28-23. The rest of the first half, Northwest’s lead fluctuated from one to five points.
“For a young team to handle their runs and hold the lead is a testament to us,” Cozad said. “It shows how mentally strong we are, but there is a lot more room for improvement. We need to bring it in January.”
— Northwest Athletics —