By David Boyce
MARYVILLE, Mo. – On a cold winter’s evening on Jan. 13, 2016, Northwest Missouri State traveled to venerable White Auditorium and suffered a seven-point loss to Emporia State.
It was a moment Emporia State players can tell the rest of the MIAA about what it felt like to beat the Bearcats. Since that time, no other conference team has walked off the court a winner against Northwest.
On Wednesday evening at Bearcat Arena, Emporia State became the latest victim to Northwest’s record-breaking reign in the MIAA. Despite a spirited effort from the Hornets, Northwest used defense and its team-oriented offense to come away with a 65-43 victory.
Before the game, Northwest coach Ben McCollum reminded his players what Emporia State did to the Bearcats over a year ago.
“I think coach Mac is really good at giving us motivation for each game,” said junior Chris-Ebou Ndow, who finished with 11 points. “When we are on a streak like we are, winning the amount of games that we are, it is easy to lose focus and lose motivation. But coach Mac does a good job of reminding us of important things like that.
“We were very aware that Emporia State was the last team to beat us, and we kind of wanted revenge for that.”
Northwest has now won 26 straight regular-season conference games, shattering the old MIAA mark of 19 set in 1931 by Northwest. The Bearcats, ranked No. 1 in the NABC top 25, improved to 22-0 overall and 14-0 in the MIAA.
The Bearcats were particularly impressive on defense, holding Emporia State to 28.6 shooting from the field.
“It really came down to our effort and intensity,” said senior D’Vante Mosby, who finished with 12 points. “Coach put it on us to compete like we know we can. It really came down to us getting stops and not thinking too much and just playing.”
The Hornets started well, scoring the first points of the game on a three-pointer from Tyler Jordan. Their last lead came at 9-8 on a three-pointer by Garin Vandiver.
Undaunted by a couple of long treys, the Bearcats hunkered down on defense and took off on offense. It started with a drive for a layup from senior Anthony Woods to put Northwest ahead for good at 10-9.
Justin Pitts followed with the first of several dazzling drives to the basket for a layup. And then the Bearcats tossed in a three-pointer from senior Zach Schneider. In a blink, Northwest bolted to a 15-9 lead.
Emporia State stayed within three to five points over the next couple of minutes until Northwest hit the Hornets with another spurt. Leading 16-13, freshman Ryan Welty pump faked on his patented baseline three-pointer, drove in and hit a five-foot floater.
The seed was now planted for Welty to get an open three on his next shot attempt. And the seed rapidly sprouted with a Welty trey that increased Northwest’s lead to 21-13.
The Hornets kept battling and prevented their deficit from hitting double-digits until fairly late in the first half. Northwest built on its 25-18 lead on a basket by Ndow.
A nifty pass from Mosby to Ndow led to another easy basket in the paint and Pitts followed that with another jaw-dropping drive for a layup. The six quick points in the paint increased the lead to 31-18.
The Bearcats put it in cruise control the rest of the half and went into halftime ahead 35-26. Emporia State was lucky it was down nine points. It could have been worse. Northwest shot 51.7 percent from the field and held the Hornets to 30.8 shooting.
Northwest needed only 4 minutes to start the second half to put the game away. Junior Brett Dougherty got the Bearcats off to a fast start. Dougherty scored in the paint and then provided an assist that led to an easy field goal from junior Xavier Kurth, making it 39-26.
After a basket from Emporia State, Pitts scored, followed by a basket by Dougherty and then the dagger three-pointer by Schneider, which pushed Northwest’s lead to 46-28. The 9-0 run concluded on a basket by Pitts, making it 48-28.
“It is our discipline,” Ndow said. “Sometimes people make runs on us. We never panic. We always stick to the game plan.
“Coming out in the second half, we knew we needed a boost. We knew that team could stick around if we didn’t make a jump on them. We came out in the second half and did a good job.”
Northwest kept hustling even with a commanding lead. It really showed with 12 minutes left and the Bearcats up 53-35. Off a missed Northwest free throw, Mosby battled for the rebound and got it, which brought applause from the crowd.
The Bearcats were never challenged the rest of the game. Northwest returns to action 3:30 p.m. Saturday in its first and only meeting of the season with Washburn. It will be the final time Bob Chipman coaches at Bearcat Arena. Chipman is retiring after 38 years as the head coach at Washburn.
“It is always enjoyable to play Washburn. They are well coached,” McCollum said. “Obviously, he has won a lot of games. It will be a challenge for us. It is exciting for us to coach against him one last time and hopefully play well.”
— Northwest Athletics —