By David Boyce – Northwest Athletics
MARYVILLE, Mo. – On the first possession of the game, the Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team forced Northeastern State into a shot-clock violation. It signaled just how locked in the Bearcats were for their MIAA opener Thursday evening.
Still, the RiverHawks weren’t prepared for what Northwest was about to unleash at Bearcat Arena in front of 1,305 fans. Northwest quickly got on the scoreboard on a basket from senior Chris-Ebou Ndow off an assist from senior Justin Pitts.
Later, Pitts put on shooting clinic that will be talked about for years or maybe until his next game. As spectacular as his night was, the teamwork by Northwest is the element that got the Bearcats off to such a great start.
Northwest followed the opening basket with a three-pointer from Ndow off an assist from Pitts and that set the pattern for a spectacular first half that saw Northwest score 63 points.
In-your-shirt defense, sharing the ball on offense and scorching hot outside shooting by the Bearcats basically put the game away in the opening 10 minutes. Northwest, ranked No. 1 the NABC coaches poll, took a 39-point lead into halftime and zoomed to an easy 99-56 victory.
“It was a lot of fun to have the fans into it,” Witthus said. “I think it started with our defense, and that is why we had so much confidence in our offense. We were getting stops and turnovers.
“This is what we have to build off of going forward. We have to come out with that mentality every game.”
Northwest, 7-0, returns to action at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Bearcat Arena against Central Oklahoma. The Bearcats probably already realize their next game won’t be as easy. Thursday night was one of those rare occasion when everything went perfectly for Northwest in the first 20 minutes.
“From here on out, conference games are going to be tough,” Pitts said. “Central Oklahoma is a great team. We will have to come prepared on defense and be ready from the start.”
While it was still a game, Ndow, who finished with 16, increased Northwest’s early lead to 8-2 on a three-pointer. A few minutes later, Witthus joined the three-point party with two straight treys to give Northwest a 19-7 lead. Witthus scored 13 points.
“On this team, no one cares about stats,” Witthus said. “Everyone plays together so well that one person may go off one night and another person will go off another night. That is what makes it so much fun. It is truly a family.”
After a traditional three-point play by Northeastern State, the Bearcats went to a ridiculous high level of play. It started with Ndow passing to Witthus who drained his third three-pointer to make it 22-10.
And that set the stage for Mr. Pitts, the reigning national Division II player of the year, to perform like he was auditioning to play Steph Curry in a movie. Pitts nailed four straight three-pointers to push Northwest’s lead to 34-10.
Remember, Northwest was playing defense just as well as offense so the run wasn’t over. The Bearcats scored 10 more points before their 25-0 run ended with them leading 44-10 with 9 minutes left in the first half.
Northwest allowed fans to catch their breath before Pitts put together a first-half closing that left you saying wow. First, he hit his ninth three-pointer of the half and then he closed the half out with a driving, circus layup that dropped through the nets at the buzzer to give Northwest a 63-25 halftime lead.
Pitts trotted into the locker room with 30 points, going 9 for 11 from beyond the arc. The nine three-pointers tied a school record held by sophomore Ryan Welty and current graduate assistant coach Zach Schneider.
In the opening minute of the second half, the single-game record belonged to Pitts when he made his 10th three-pointer.
“I am sure Zach is not going to like that,” said Pitts, who scored 35 points on 11-for-15 shooting from the field, including 10-of-13 from beyond the arc.
“It was fun. I couldn’t do it without my teammates. They get me open and trust me to do the right things. I hit the first couple. Everybody was hitting shots. It was a fun night.”
Northwest continued to play tough defense in the second half. The Bearcats outscored Northeastern State 14-2 in the first 7 minutes of the second half for a 77-27 lead.
The huge lead allowed Northwest coach Ben McCollum to sit his starters the final 10 minutes and that opened the door for players like junior Dray Starzl, sophomores Tyler Dougherty, Kirk Finley and freshmen Ryan Hawkins and Daric Laing to see significant playing time in the second half. Hawkins scored 11, Dougherty had five and Finley chipped in four.
An example of why Northwest plays at such a high level occurred about 20 minutes after the game. When most of players were milling around on the court, talking with family and friends, sophomore Ryan Welty spent five minutes shooting baskets. He missed a couple of shots during the game. Welty was doing early prep work for Saturday’s game.
“Every day in practice we got to keep bringing it,” Pitts said. “We have a great coaching staff who holds us accountable to bring it every day. If we don’t, we will end up losing. I don’t think any of us want that.”
— Northwest Athletics —