By David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State gave up the first two points of the game and allowed Lindenwood to hold three, brief leads in the opening minutes. But the Bearcats were never in danger of losing their second game in a row.

Northwest took a 10-point lead into halftime and carried that advantage to a 68-52 victory Thursday evening at Bearcat Arena.

“It was obviously really important to play well,” said junior Chris-Ebou Ndow, who finished with 22 points. “Teams are starting to figure out our tendencies. This team did a really good job. They came ready.

“It was important to get out of our slump quickly. That is what we did today.”

The win lifted Northwest to 25-1 overall, 17-1 in the MIAA and solidified its No. 1 position in the Central Regional. The top seed plays host in the eight-team regional tournament in mid-March.

But before the Bearcats set their sight on the NCAA Tournament, they have senior day on Saturday against Lincoln University and then their quarterfinal game in the MIAA Tournament 6 p.m. Thursday (March 2) at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.

“We love our seniors,” Ndow said. “They are a huge part of what we are doing. You could see it today. One day it is D’Vante Mosby. One day it is Zach Schneider and another day it is Anthony Woods. They have a big impact on what we are doing.”

Northwest did nothing special in its win against Lindenwood. After the Lions took their last lead at 6-5, Northwest took control on a three-pointer by Woods followed by a bucket in the paint by Mosby that gave the Bearcats a 10-6 lead. Northwest never trailed again.

But the Lions were feisty. Twice they closed to one point at 14-13 and 16-15. Northwest started to get some separation on a Woods basket. The Bearcats’ lead increased to six on a three-pointer by Ndow.

The long-range bomb was significant for Ndow and the Bearcats. In recent games, Ndow has struggled with his outside shot. He missed his first two three-pointers against Lindenwood.

Firing up the long-range jumper with confidence paid off for Ndow. A couple of minutes later, Ndow knocked down another three-pointer that increased Northwest’s lead to 31-18.

“It felt great,” Ndow said. “The whole year I have been struggling with my shooting. I try not to overthink it. I know I can shoot.

“Our team is so good offensively that you have to pick your poison. Me shooting is the best thing you can pick so I don’t blame them. I stick with the process and I know good things will happen and it happened tonight.”

The Bearcats played well enough to maintain a double-digit lead for most of the last 7 minutes of the half and went into halftime ahead 45-35.

Undaunted by Lindenwood scoring the first five points to start the second half, Northwest calmly answered with five points from junior Justin Pitts to push the lead back to 10. Pitts finished with 21 points.

The hustle of Mosby brought the loudest cheers from the fans early in the second half. Even with a 10-point lead, Mosby twice dove on the floor for the ball to give Northwest another scoring opportunity on its end of the floor.

“He is by far the player of the game,” Ndow said of Mosby. “After my first dunk, we got on a roll, but before that we played really bad. D’Vante was the only one keeping us up and in the game. He was huge tonight. That was big-time.”

Mosby appreciated the cheers from the fans for his hard work.

“We love the community,” Mosby said. “The best thing we can do is give them a good showing and do what they believe we can do.

“The community is so supportive. I can’t walk anywhere in town without them sending us good vibes and telling us to keep going. Diving on the floor is my job. It is cool to get that recognition.”

The Bearcats needed those extra possessions because they were struggling on offense. They only scored one point from the time they held a 45-35 lead with over 15 minutes left to holding a 46-37 lead with 9:57 left in the game.

Pitts warmed up. He hit a floater and then after Lindenwood knocked down a three-pointer, Pitts answered with a trey. The Bearcats got back on defense, got a steal that led to a Ndow dunk. Pitts followed that with a basket, giving Northwest a 55-40 lead with 7:24 left.

It was a lightning-quick offensive strike that caused the Lions to call timeout to figure out what struck them. One minute they were down 48-40 and the next it was 55-40.

After the timeout, Northwest played solid defense and then scored on a basket in the paint by Ndow to make it 57-40 with 6 minutes left. The Lions finally broke the 9-0 scoring run by Northwest. The Bearcats responded with a dunk by Ndow off a pass from Pitts.

The dagger came with just under 4 minutes left when Ndow made his fourth, three-pointer of the game to give Northwest a 66-45 lead. Ndow also had three dunks.

It was a solid performance by the Bearcats.

“We can’t afford to have another game like we had at Missouri Southern,” Ndow said.

— Northwest Athletics —