TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The three-point bug that hit sophomore Zach Schneider two days ago, spread to some of his Northwest Missouri State teammates Monday evening. Northeastern State certainly didn’t have a cure for it.

While not a fan of using youth culture slang, the way Northwest is currently shooting the three-pointer is sick.

Here is a little help for the older generation on what that means. The online slang dictionary defines sick as great, amazing, cool and awesome.

These are the superlatives needed to describe the first-half shooting performance by the Bearcats. They went 10 for 14 on three-pointers and built a 29-point halftime lead on the way to an 83-59 victory at NSU Event Center.

“We just wanted to keep the momentum rolling from our win at UCO,” said Northwest senior Grant Cozad, who finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

“We wanted to click on all cylinders and that is what happened. Zach was still hot from the three and that helped us out there.”

The win lifted Northwest to 11-2 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA. It was also the 100th career victory for Northwest coach Ben McCollum.

“The only thing it means is that I have coached a lot of good players and had some really good assistants,” McCollum said. “That is just a result of getting those quality kids in the program and getting quality coaches in this program. The 100 wins are attributed to them.”

If it was just a ho hum, pedestrian win, McCollum would have received top billing for his first significant milestone win in his young coaching career.

What the Bearcats did on the court in the first half was special. Schneider picked up where he left off Saturday with his record-breaking performance of nine three-pointers. He drilled a three-pointer early on to give Northwest a 5-2 lead.

A possession or two later, freshman Justin Pitts hit a three-pointer for an 8-4 lead.

Northeastern had its eye on Schneider, but forgot about junior Conner Crooker, who hit a corner three-pointer with 15:19 left in the first half that gave Northwest a 17-7 lead.

“We are starting games off really well,” Cozad said. “The first five minutes of the first half are big because we can build up that momentum and carry it through the game.”

The barrage of three-pointers midway through the first half was dazzling. A three-pointer by Schneider made it 20-14, and then a three-pointer by Crooker increased the lead to 23-14 and then another trey by Schneider made it 26-14.

“It was a carry over from the UCO game,” said Pitts, who finished with 20 points and five assists. “Zach was still lighting it up and I was starting to feel it a little bit. We have confidence in each other to make threes.”

The outside shooting was so remarkable that the stellar defense Northwest was playing was easy to overlook.

Northwest held the RiverHawks to 39 percent from the field in the first half. It allowed Northwest to build a 41-19 lead. Northwest’s lead grew to 53-21 late in the first half.

Schneider was four for six on three-pointers in the first half and Pitts and Crooker were each three for four beyond the arc.

“It is a pretty good feeling,” said Schneider, who finished with five three-pointers and 15 points. “You don’t have to do anything. You just let it fly and it goes in.

“I thought Conner was going to break my record at the start. I was worried I was only going to have it for one night. I feel like us three can outshoot anyone.”

It is not often a team at any level shoots 71 percent on three-pointers on more than 10 attempts.

“It is the shots that we are taking,” McCollum said. “That is the more important aspect other than the fact they are going in. We are getting shots for the shooters we want to shoot.”

With such a huge halftime lead, it would have been understandable for the Bearcats to lose some intensity in the second half. But with 14:43 left in the game, Northwest held a 63-33 lead.

Northwest wasn’t nearly as hot from the outside in the second half, but the Bearcats hard-nosed play frustrated Northeastern into getting two technical fouls.

The Bearcats were in such control that with 6:22 left and leading 77-49, McCollum was able to pull four starters and get the back-ups some minutes.

“I thought we defended well in the first half and got the looks we wanted,” McCollum said. “I still think we can play even better. There were a few lulls that happened throughout the game. It is something we will address and fix going into Thursday home game against Nebraska-Kearney.”

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —