The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team defeated Pittsburg State, 84-58, on Saturday at John Lance Arena in Pittsburg, Kan.

– The Bearcats move to 13-1 on the year and 5-1 in MIAA play. The Gorillas fall to 9-6 overall and 2-4 in conference action.

– Justin Pitts scored 23 points with eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.

– Joey Witthus tied a season-high with 18 points, hitting four times from beyond the arc.

– Brett Dougherty was 9-for-10 from the field with four rebounds, two assists and a steal, finishing with a career-high 19 points.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest shot an even 50 percent from the field, hitting 31-of-62 attempts. The Gorillas were held to just 19-for-54 (35.2 percent) from the field.
– The Bearcats trailed, 35-34 at halftime. In the second, Pittsburg State managed just 23 points on 9-of-30 shooting.
– The Bearcats forced 11 Pittsburg State turnovers and out-rebounded the Gorillas, 41-29, including at 12-7 advantage on the offensive boards.
– Seven different Northwest players scored at least two points and eight players had at least two rebounds.
– The eight assists by Pitts matches his second-highest performance this season.
– Northwest was 16-for-20 (80 percent) from the free throw line.
– Xavier Kurth grabbed six rebounds and added nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.
– Chris-Ebou Ndow grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, adding nine points. It marked his 13th career double-digit rebound performance and his fourth this year.
– Ryan Hawkins had four points, four rebounds and added an assist.
– Ryan Welty hit both of his free throw attempts and grabbed four rebounds to go along with an assist.

Key Northwest Sequence
– Holding just a one point lead early in the second half, Northwest went on 14-2 run to pull away from the Gorillas. In fact, Pittsburg State was held scoreless for over a five-minute stretch as the Bearcats built a double-digit lead. The Gorillas managed to get a bucket from Jabari Antwine with 9:48 left to halt the run momentarily. But after the teams traded baskets again, Northwest went on another 9-0 run to make it 65-45. For nearly 10 minutes midway through the second half, the Bearcats went on a 25-6 run, sparked by 11 points and three assists from Pitts.

Up Next
– The Bearcats will host Central Missouri on Thursday, Jan. 11, at 5:30 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —