By David Boyce – Northwest Athletics
MARYVILLE, Mo. – If you want to build drama, you could point to five minutes into the second half and say Pittsburg State was on the verge of making a dramatic comeback that was going to shock first-place Northwest Missouri State Thursday evening at Bearcat Arena.
The Gorillas had reduced a 22-point deficit late in the first half to 12 with a couple of opportunities to cut it to 10.
Oh, and to add intrigue to the unfolding drama, Northwest senior point guard Justin Pitts, last year’s leading man as NCAA Division II player of the year, was on the bench in street clothes with foot issues.
Folks, this is what is called a false narrative.
Northwest was never in danger of losing. The Bearcats easily handled Pittsburg State’s mild run and won 78-64. The victory lifted Northwest to 22-2 overall and 14-2 in the MIAA. Six players scored in double figures.
“We approached it like it was a championship game, postseason game, loser go home,” said senior Chris-Ebou Ndow, who finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. “Obviously, with Pitts out, we knew we had to come mentally prepared. Although we had quite a few turnovers (18), we came prepared defensively, and we executed offensively when we actually got the ball over half court.”
Everything was working in the first half for Northwest. The Bearcats scored the first seven points of the game and wasted little time building a 21-9 lead.
Like in many of their blowouts, the Bearcats were on fire from the outside. Sophomore Ryan Welty made all three of his three-point attempts and Ndow was three for six from behind the arc. In all, Northwest went eight for 13 on three-pointers.
“It is definitely a good feeling when you see shots going down,” said Welty, who finished with 13 points. “We got a big lead, which definitely helped us in this game. The second half we were pretty bad. It is always good to come out and hit shots and see the ball go through the hoop.”
The hot outside shooting by the Bearcats staked them to a commanding 35-13 lead. Northwest took a comfortable 43-26 lead into halftime.
The Gorillas started the second half with a lot of fire in them. They went to a full-court press and that bothered Northwest a little. On a few possessions, the Bearcats needed Pitts.
“There was really no excuse for some of them, but we know we will be better,” Ndow said.
The few turnovers Pittsburg State created helped the Gorillas close to 49-37 with 15:05 left in the game. Northwest junior Joey Witthus restored order by scoring the next seven points. His inside scoring outburst pushed Northwest’s lead to 56-37 lead with 10:32 left in the game.
The little threat was over.
“I have so much confidence in my team, especially this year defensively,” Ndow said. “I have never played on a team that is this locked in defensively. If we make dumb turnovers or it is not our night offensively, our defense can win us games.”
Northwest will now focus on Saturday’s final regular-season home game against Missouri Southern. The Bearcats have only lost three times in the last two seasons, and two of them were against Missouri Southern.
“My family being here is more motivation,” said Ndow, who is from Norway.
— Northwest Athletics —