MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team dropped its fourth game in a row, 78-52, at 2nd-ranked Northwest Missouri State on Tuesday night.

The Griffons found themselves down early and could never close the gap, trailing by 12 just nine minutes into the game. Cold shooting hurt Missouri Western again, shooting 28 percent from the field in the first half and scoring 17 first half points. Missouri Western did recover to shoot close to 47 percent from the field in the second half.

Cole Clearman had a big second half himself, scoring 18 of his game-high 20 points after halftime. The junior was 6-15 from the field, 3-7 from three-point range and 5-5 at the free throw line.

Missouri Western travels to Division I Southern Illionois-Edwardsville on Saturday, Dec. 10 for a 2 p.m. tip-off.

— MWSU Athletics —