For the second straight night the Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team put together a solid defensive effort knocking off Southwest Minnesota State 74-62 to close out the Bearcat Classic on Sunday.

Northwest kept its record perfect at 5-0 after they held off Upper Iowa Saturday. SMSU fell to 3-4 after a last second win against Central Missouri in the opening game of the Bearcat Classic.

Sunday was all Northwest as the Bearcats never trailed and shot an impressive 59 percent from the field in the first half to build a 38-29 halftime lead.

SMSU would not go quietly however, pulling as close as five points with 2:37 left in the game on a Jordan Miller jumper from the elbow. Miller finished with 11 points.

With just under two minutes left to play, DeAngelo Hailey drilled a three-pointer from the left wing and extended Northwest’s back to eight points. The Bearcats continued their solid free-throw shooting down the stretch as Matt Wallace made four free-throws in the final 1:30 to ice game.

Hailey led the Bearcats in scoring for the second straight night, as he finished with a game high 20 points off the bench. The senior was also 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and pulled in six rebounds.

Northwest shot 80 percent from the free-throw line and flexed its muscles inside as they out-rebounded the Mustangs 39-28.

Dillon Starzl finished with 16 points and six rebounds while Alex Sullivan continued his hot streak from behind the three-point line adding 14 points. Sullivan was 4-for-6 from behind the arc and is shooting an amazing 54 percent on the young season.

Nick Smith led SMSU with 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.

The Bearcats have one final nonconference tune up when they host York College Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Northwest opens conference play Dec. 5 when they host Lindenwood at Bearcat Arena.

— NWMSU Sports Information —