By David Boyce, Northwest Athletics

MARYVILLE, Mo. – With 10 minutes, 30 seconds left in the game, Northwest Missouri State junior forward Zach Schneider received extended applause.

The 1,254 fans at Bearcat Arena early Saturday evening clapped when Schneider’s long three-pointer gave Northwest a 24-point lead and caused Fort Hays State to call timeout.

The timeout gave the public address announcer the opportunity to inform the crowd that Schneider’s basket made him the all-time three-point leader in Northwest school history. It was his 216th trey, putting him ahead of Northwest current associate head coach Austin Meyer.

“It was pretty cool, especially in front of the home crowd, but I was just happy about the win, honestly,” said Schneider, who knocked down six three-pointers and finished with 18 points.

Schneider wasn’t the only one hot from the outside. Senior Conner Crooker and sophomores Justin Pitts and Chris-Ebou Ndow also made multiple three-pointers.

Because the Bearcats excelled on defense, too, their 77-55 victory over Hays was probably their best all-around game since they beat Central Oklahoma by 19 on Jan. 2.

The win lifted Northwest to 13-5 overall and 10-3 and alone in first in the MIAA.

Since Jan. 2, Northwest has lost only once, but the Bearcats had games when they squandered leads. That didn’t happen Saturday against Hays. Northwest entered the second half with a 36-24 lead. Like the first half, Schneider started the second half with a three-pointer, which quickly pumped Northwest’s lead to 39-24.

“That was the coach message at halftime,” Schneider said. “That is one of our weaknesses. Sometimes we let teams crawl back in the game. This is going to help us down the stretch, closing out teams.”

Northwest kept rolling after it quickly moved its advantage to 15 points. The Bearcats got a stop and Ndow drained a long three-pointer that forced Hays to call a timeout barely a minute into the second half.

“Guys like me and D’Vante Mosby are starting to find our rhythm with the team,” said Ndow, who finished with 12 points. “As soon as we start getting into a rhythm with the team, we can be really good because guys like Zach, Pitts and Conner have been here for awhile. They know how to move the ball.

“It definitely helps when Zach shoots the ball like he did today. It opens everything up for the other guys.”

Several minutes the 52-34 lead, Crooker took over when Hays closed to 46-33. Crooker hit a three-pointer and followed that with consecutive two-point field goals that increased Northwest’s lead to 53-33. Crooker finished with a game-high 19 points.

The only drama left was when Schneider was going to break Meyer’s record. Schneider took care of that with more than 10 minutes left in the game.

“I came into such a great situation,” Schneider said. “The coaches put me in a great spot. The five seniors set screens and looked for me my freshman year. The situation I was put in I was built to succeed. That’s the best part about it.”

Meyer was happy for Schneider.

“He is a team guy,” Meyer said. “He wants to win. That’s what we all want to do. He works as hard as anybody. He is in the gym at 7 a.m. getting shots in and after practice getting shots in. He is a heck of a lot better three-point shooter than I ever was, and there is a reason for that. He works extremely hard for it.”

Northwest opened the game with five straight points and never trailed in the first half. The Bearcats held a 36-24 lead at halftime.

Schneider started the game with a three-pointer, which was a great sign for him and the Bearcats. Through most of December and part of January, Schneider struggled with his outside shooting. He broke loose on Thursday with several clutch three-pointers.

“The first semester I kind of shorted it up a bit,” Schneider said of his outside shooting. “It was coming off in different ways. I put it back on my fingertips. It feels good, like it did last year and my freshman year. I’m ready to roll for the rest of the year.”

Schneider was hot from the start on Saturday. His second three-pointer gave Northwest a 10-5 lead, his third one made it 26-14 and his fourth one in the first half put the Bearcats ahead 29-16.

As a team, Northwest shot well from the field, hitting 12 of 24 shots for 50 percent while holding the Tigers to 35 percent shooting.

Strong defense and good offense allowed Northwest to hold a double-digit lead the last 7 minutes of the first half.

— Northwest Athletics —

By David Boyce, Northwest Athletics

MARYVILLE, Mo. – For three quarters, Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team nearly matched the No. 3 team in the country point-for-point. The Bearcats entered the fourth quarter trailing by just three to Fort Hays State.

But Northwest gave up the next seven points at the start of the final quarter and never recovered from it, falling 61-46 to Hays Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena.

“We can play with anybody when we are locked in,” Northwest interim head coach Buck Scheel said. “Defensively, for the most part, we played pretty solid.”

The Bearcats showed plenty of fight late in the third quarter when it trailed 38-31. The game appeared to be slipping away when a basket by senior Tember Schechinger, followed by two free throws by junior Shelby Mustain, pulled Northwest to within three at 38-35 to close out the third period.

Hays junior Jill Faxon shifted the momentum back to Hays at the start of the fourth quarter with a three-pointer. Hays added two more baskets, which gave them a 45-35 lead.

“We just can’t have that,” said Schechinger of the three-pointer. “No matter what point in the game, we can’t have that happen.”

The 10-point deficit was too much for the Bearcats to overcome against a team that is holding opponents to 55.7 points per game.

“We were struggling to get into a flow,” Scheel said. “We were getting looks, but we were passing up shooting opportunities and passing up post-entry opportunities. That’s not how we’ve been playing. We were very passive on offense and that let to our turnovers.”

Northwest didn’t help its cause by turning the ball over 30 times compared to only nine turnovers for Hays. The Tigers also pulled down 15 offensive rebounds. That combination allowed Hays to take 23 more shots.

“Offensively, we were just giving them the ball and more opportunities and they were capitalizing on those opportunities,” Scheel said. “Twenty-two points off of turnovers is going to hurt you.”

The focus for the Bearcats shifts to their next game. They will play at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at home against Missouri Southern. It was at Southern on Dec. 9 that the Bearcats started to gain confidence in their ability with a five-point loss.

“The Missouri Southern game turned us around as a team,” said Schechinger, who finished with her sixth double-double this season (13 points, 11 rebounds). “I think this is a game we can definitely get. If we don’t get it, it is going to be a big deal.”

Northwest played a gritty first half and went into halftime trailing only 27-23 against the highly-ranked Tigers.

The Bearcats showed their spunk late in the first quarter when they gave up six straight points and stared at a 13-7 deficit. Scheel called timeout. Northwest regrouped and scored the final five points in the first quarter and the first four points in the second quarter for a 16-13 lead.

Hays answered with the next six points to grab a three-point advantage. The Bearcats stayed close the rest of the second quarter, even pulling to 25-23 with less than a minute left in the quarter.

Both teams played solid defense. Northwest shot 37 percent from the field in the first half and Hays made 36 percent of its shots.

Schechinger played well in the first half for the Bearcats, making three of four shots from the field and pulling down five rebounds.

— Northwest Athletics —