The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team lost at Missouri Southern Wednesday night, 77-65.

It’s the second straight loss for the Bearcats and they’ve now dropped three of their last four games.  Northwest is now 13-5 on the season and 6-4 in the MIAA, while the Lions improved to 12-6 and 6-3.

Conner Crooker led the Bearcats with 15 points, while Brett Dougherty scored 12 points and corralled seven rebounds.  Lyle Harris added a career-high 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.

After trailing from the start, Zach Schneider drilled a three pointer to give the Bearcats a 15-14 lead with 8:25 left in the first half. Conner Crooker made a jumper after a Missouri Southern turnover, then hit a trey of his own to hand Northwest a 20-15 advantage.

After Cameron Cornelius hit a layup and the ensuing free throw to close the gap to two, Anthony Woods layed in an offensive rebound to put the Bearcats back up by four. Moments later Brett Dougherty added a layup of his own to give the Bearcats a six point lead. The Lions then went on a 13-2 run to close out the period, heading into the break with a 31-26 lead.

Northwest Missouri State will return to action next Wednesday (Jan. 28) when Lindenwood makes the trip to Maryville. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 following the women’s matchup.

— Northwest Sports Information —