The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team lost to Lincoln Friday evening in Jefferson City, Mo., 79-74.

The Bearcats fall to 6-3 this season and 4-1 in the MIAA, while the Blue Tigers improve to 7-3 overall and 3-1 against conference opponents.

Justin Pitts led all scorers with a season-high 28 points.

Pitts hit 12 of his 17 shots in the contest while dishing out four assists and making two steals.  Chris-Ebou Ndow scored a career-high 14 points after knocking down 5-of-8 attempts from the field. The sophomore grabbed four rebounds and distributed a personal-best three assists.

Junior D’Vante Mosby was one rebound short of his third double-double this season, tallying 11 points and nine rebounds while swiping three steals.  Anthony Woods chipped in seven points, six rebounds and five assists.

The Blue Tigers hit 57.4 (27-of-47) percent of their shots, including 50 percent of their three-point attempts (10-of-20). Meanwhile, Northwest finished with a 46.7 percent shooting percentage (28-of-60).

Northwest opened the contest by scoring 14 of the first 20 points before the opening media timeout. Anthony Woods laid in the first bucket of the game after Justin Pitts made a steal. Chris-Ebou Ndow poured in a three-pointer on a pass from Woods on the ensuing possession. Pitts put in a layup one minute later before finding Zach Schneider for a triple, extending the lead to 10-2. Pitts and D’Vante Mosby made consecutive buckets after a steal for Schneider, giving the Bearcats an eight point advantage with 13:54 to play in the first half.

The Bearcats will wrap up play this weekend when they travel to St. Charles, Mo. for a meeting with the Lindenwood Lions on Sunday, Dec. 20. First tip is scheduled for 3 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —