By David Boyce
BOLIVAR, Mo. – In order for Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team to play in the biggest MIAA game of the conference season, the Bearcats had to go on the road and take care of business. And they did in impressive fashion.
Northwest led wire-to-wire, beating Southwest Baptist 72-54 Thursday evening at Meyer Sports Center for its eighth straight victory.
The MIAA showdown is now set. Bearcat Arena should be rocking 3:30 p.m. Saturday when Northwest, 21-5 and 14-4 in the MIAA, takes on Central Missouri, 23-4 and 14-4, in the battle for the MIAA regular-season crown.
The Mules are the second hottest team in the conference. They have won seven straight games.
“This is why we play the game,” said Conner Crooker, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “We have been building up to this game all season long. It just happens to be our rival team. It is going to be a big one.”
On Saturday, Northwest will definitely need to bring the same intensity and quality of basketball that it used to lead from start to finish against Baptist.
Coming into this game, the Bearcats knew they had to be ready to play. On Jan. 14, Northwest needed overtime to beat Baptist 77-73 in Bearcat Arena.
“It was definitely a big deal to be focused the whole game because the last time we played them was overtime,” Crooker said. “We weren’t going to come in here and lose it and let Central get away with the championship.”
The Bearcats were in such control in the second half that it gave up an 11-0 run to Baptist and still led 50-40. But it was a critical juncture for Northwest. Baptist had the ball and fired up a three-pointer that could have trimmed Northwest’s lead to seven.
The ball didn’t go in. Northwest then snatched away momentum from Baptist even with center Grant Cozad and point guard Justin Pitts saddled with four fouls.
“Anytime someone is in foul trouble and I have to come in, I try to play hard and play my role and help the team,” said sophomore Anthony Woods.
Teamwork is what has made the Bearcats so good all season. A three-point play by Woods ended Baptist’s run and gave Northwest a 13-point cushion.
“It was real big,” Woods said. “We needed that. It is always big to get a three. Anytime we get a three or anything to change momentum, we like it. We get back on defense and play hard.”
On the next possession, Zach Schneider drilled a three-pointer, and in less than a minute, Northwest held a comfortable 56-40 lead. Baptist never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
“We played really good defense,” Woods said. “Our focus was there. We played mentally tough and boxed out well. I feel we prepared well in practice, too.”
Offensively, Northwest was draining three-pointers. Crooker knocked down five three-pointers, Schneider had four and Pitts finished with three.
“It is always nice to know we can click whenever on offense and we can get a big run,” Crooker said.
Northwest opened the game with a three-pointer by Schneider and went into halftime ahead 35-23.
In the first 4 minutes, three different players scored for Northwest and that diverse scoring allowed the Bearcats to build a 10-2 lead.
Baptist made a brief spurt and closed to 12-9. Northwest answered with a 12-0 run that pushed the lead to 24-9.
By playing well on both ends of the court, Northwest maintained a double-digit lead the last 10 minutes of the first half. Northwest shot 48 percent from the field in the first half and held Baptist to 32 percent.
— Northwest Sports Information —