The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team defeated Central Missouri, 70-61, on Monday at Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo.
– Northwest improves to 15-1 on the year and 7-1 in MIAA play. The Mules fall to 13-3 overall and 5-2 in conference action.
– Justin Pitts scored a game-high 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting. He hit six three pointers and added five assists. It was his fourth game this season scoring at least 30 points.
– Central Missouri led for a majority of the first half before Northwest took control and led for the entirety of the second half.
Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest shot 56.8 percent (25-44) from the field and hit on 12-of-27 (44.4 percent) from beyond the arc.
– The Bearcats forced 11 UCM turnovers and had three steals.
– Northwest got three offensive rebounds a converted all three chances in to baskets, outscoring the Mules, 7-0, in second chance points.
– Chris-Ebou Ndow grabbed a team-high six rebounds and scored 12 points, hitting a pair of three pointers.
– Brett Dougherty scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He grabbed four rebounds and added three assists.
– Xavier Kurth was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field including a three pointer. He had seven points on the afternoon.
– Ryan Welty knocked down a pair of three-pointers and finished with six points and an assist.
Key Northwest Sequence
– Northwest took control of the game with a 13-0 run that started at the end of the first half and extended nearly three minutes into the second. After a Brett Dougherty layup that tied the game, the Bearcats got three points before halftime after a foul on UCM turned into a bench technical, making it 34-31 Northwest at the break.
Out of halftime, Kurth nailed a three pointer and Ndow hit another long range bomb to push the lead to 40-31. a pair of Pitts free throws capped the 13-point run as the Bearcat lead never dipped below six points for the remainder of the game.
Up Next
– Northwest heads to Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday, Jan. 18, to face the Lopers at 7:30 p.m. in Kearney, Neb.
— Northwest Athletics —