By David Boyce, Northwest Athletics
MARYVILLE, Mo. – In Northwest Missouri State’s impressive 86-61 victory over Lincoln University Thursday evening, there were so many jaw-dropping moments that it was impossible to pick one.
Some of the 1,005 fans who left Bearcat Arena might talk about the numerous nifty drives by sophomore Justin Pitts that led to layups. He finished with 18 points.
Others could speak about the beautiful team basketball by Northwest that led to open shots. The Bearcats had 14 assists compared to just five for Lincoln.
“I think it pays off from practice because in practice we try so hard to be perfect,” Pitts said. “It carries over to the game and today it showed.”
But since the basketball world currently revolves around Stephen Curry, the sharp shooting guard of the Golden State Warriors, the highlight moment for Northwest belonged to junior Zach Schneider.
Even though Northwest was well on its way to its sixth straight victory, what Schneider did with 13 minutes left brought a loud roar from the crowd and a timeout from Lincoln.
Leading 51-36, Schneider hit a long three-pointer. The Bearcats got a stop, raced down court and senior Conner Crooker delivered a perfect pass to Schneider for a three-pointer. Boom, boom, the long-range bombing by Schneider gave Northwest a commanding 57-36 lead.
“It is a pretty good feeling,” said Schneider, who went six for eight on three-pointers and finished with 18 points. “I was letting it fly and not even thinking about it. That is when I am at my best.
“It is nice to force the other team to call timeout. That is when the crowd gets into it.”
From that moment on, it was obvious Northwest was going to avenge its 79-74 loss at Lincoln on Dec. 18.
“Pretty much everything was different, our defense, our offense, and we played with more energy,” Schneider said. “We hit shots tonight. It was a completely different game. We feel we are a lot better team now.”
With the victory, the Bearcats maintain their firm grip on first place in the MIAA. They improved to 16-5 overall and 13-3 in conference. Northwest returns to action 3:30 p.m. Saturday at home against second-place Lindenwood.
From the outset, the Bearcats made sure Lincoln knew it had no chance of winning. The closest Lincoln got to Northwest in the second half was 12 points and that didn’t last long.
Ahead 43-31, Crooker drilled a three-pointer to make it 46-31. Cooker, though, did his damage distributing the basketball. He had a career-high eight assists.
“He was good today,” Schneider said of Crooker’s assists. “Teams have to bring two players to him sometimes and he is good at finding us.”
After Crooker’s trey, Schneider followed with a three-pointer, pushing Northwest’s lead to 49-31. The game was basically over, but there was still the Schneider back-to-back trey moment.
In the first half, Northwest played so well at the start that freshman forward Dray Starzl and sophomore guard Xavier Kurth saw significant minutes. Starzl responded by making both his field goal attempts and did his part to help the Bearcats go into halftime ahead 36-20.
“It is nice to come in and get more minutes,” Starzl said. “Coaches are trusting me. It is good to give Zach and Brett Dougherty and D’Vante Mosby a little breather. Keeping them fresh is a big thing.
“These games are crucial for me to grow as a player. If I am needed because we are in foul trouble, I will be ready to go. I feel like I am.”
Kurth, who has missed much of the season due to an injury, showed some rust. This was only the sixth game he has played in this season. Part of the reason Kurth saw 11 minutes of action in the first half was because of an injury to junior Anthony Woods, who was in street clothes for the game.
The Bearcats started the game on fire. Dougherty scored the first basket of the game. Crooker followed with a three-pointer. Before the Tigers knew what hit them, they were looking at a 13-1 deficit that bloomed to 19-3.
Northwest made sure Lincoln never made a dent in the lead the rest of the first half. The Bearcats shot 42 percent from the field and held Lincoln to five of 23 shooting from the field for a dismal 21.7 shooting percentage.
— Northwest Athletics —