MARYVILLE, Mo. – In front of a boisterous student section at Bearcat Arena Wednesday evening, the Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team delivered an impressive gut-check 77-73 overtime victory over Southwest Baptist.

“It feels pretty good afterwards, but it was pretty tiring,” said senior Matt Wallace, who for the third straight game scored a career-high in points, finishing with 19.

“It was big for us, going down the stretch, getting down two and everybody wondering if we can do it. But we came back and won it. We will have that in the back of our heads for the rest of the season.”

Sure, the Bearcats blowout wins at Central Oklahoma, at Northeastern State and at home against Nebraska-Kearney were works of art. But it is easy to look good when the ball is dropping.

What the Bearcats pulled off Wednesday was probably more meaningful.

“This game can benefit us a lot more because those games you are not improving much and you are on a feel-good,” Wallace said. “You are not going to have a feel-good during tourney time. You usually are not playing your greatest and shots are not going down so you got to be able to grind out and get the win like we did tonight.”

Against Southwest Baptist, the Bearcats held a five-point lead with only 35 seconds left. It appeared Wallace sealed the victory when he stole the ball and raced down the court for a layup, which put the Bearcats up 64-59.

“I honestly was thinking we were kind of set,” Wallace said. “But that was dumb of me to do.”

Southwest Baptist responded by scoring the final five points in regulation, all coming on the hot hand of senior Menas Stephens.

Overtime, though, was not foreign territory for the Bearcats. They pulled out a 74-66 overtime win against Fort Hays State on Dec. 20 at Bearcat Arena.

The big difference this time was Northwest immediately fell behind Southwest Baptist in overtime. Against Fort Hays State, the Bearcats quickly jumped to a lead in overtime.

Southwest Baptist held a 69-67 lead when freshman Justin Pitts drove for a layup. Southwest Baptist went back in front 70-69 with 1:10 left on free throw by Stephens.

Northwest battled back and grabbed the lead with 57 seconds left on a three-pointer by sophomore Zach Schneider. The lead grew to 74-70 on two free throws by Pitts with 36 seconds left.

This time, the Bearcats didn’t allow Southwest Baptist to tie, but it wasn’t easy. A three-pointer by David Gabrovsek with 22 seconds left allowed Southwest Baptist to close to one at 74-73.

Three seconds later, junior Conner Crooker made both free throws, pushing Northwest’s lead back to three.

Those four straight free throws were key in the Bearcats securing the win. If Northwest were better at the line during regulation, the game probably wouldn’t have went to overtime. For the game, Northwest went 15 for 31 from the line for 48 percent, although in overtime the Bearcats were six for eight.

Northwest was also hurt on the boards. Southwest Baptist pulled down 20 more rebounds than the Bearcats.

Still, Northwest found a way to win. The Bearcats improved to 13-3 overall and 6-2 in the MIAA. Northwest hits the road for their next game, playing at Central Missouri on Saturday.

Picking up the 13th victory, though, was definitely tiring.

“We are getting used to it,” said Crooker, who finished with 27 points and a career-high nine rebounds. “The past few games have been a grind. This was a big one tonight. I don’t think I have been more tired in a game in my life.

“They were just fighting and getting after the o-boards. It was a tough, fought battle. It was good to come out with a win.”

Northwest led for all but a couple of possession in the first half, but the slim 30-29 lead at halftime signified just how close the game was the first 20 minutes.

Each time the Bearcats built a six-point lead, Southwest Baptist charged right back.

For the most part, Northwest only had two sources of offense in the first half. Matt Wallace scored 11 and Conner Crooker had 10.

The Bearcats shot an uncharacteristically low 41 percent from the field and was 4-for-12 from the free throw line for 33 percent.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – With 1.6 seconds left and the game tied, Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team was in position for its first MIAA victory.

Junior Taylor Shull looked for one teammate and then another and finally she zipped a pass to sophomore Shelby Mustain, who tossed in the game-winning basket at the buzzer.

“Where were my teammates,” Mustain said of her thoughts immediately following the basket. “I am ready to celebrate.

“We were in the locker room and it felt like we won the national championship. We wanted that win so bad. It was such a team effort and such a team win. I just couldn’t wait to get to my teammates.”

The 66-64 victory by Northwest over Southwest Baptist Wednesday evening at Bearcat Arena was a case of a team tired of losing conference games.

“We have seen a lot of growth in the last week to week and a half with our players,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said. “It was nice to do this in front of Bearcat nation. Our crowd was great tonight.

“More importantly, I’m just glad our kids stayed composed. I felt like when they made some runs, we didn’t force it and try to make a five-point shot. We slowly came back and got a bucket at a time and put ourselves in position and got some stops when we needed them.”

Northwest didn’t back down when it trailed by 13 points in the first half, nor did the Bearcats wilt when they were down 58-49 with 8:13 to go.

“We were going to fight and give it our all,” said Northwest senior Ariel Easton, who finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. “Something we stressed to everyone is when you are out there, leave everything on the court.”

A layup by freshman Tanya Meyer, who sparked Northwest late in the first half, ignited the Bearcats again.

Junior Tember Schechinger followed with a basket, helping Northwest close to 58-53 with more than 6 minutes left.

Even though Northwest held the lead for less than two minutes in the contest, the Bearcats played with the confidence of a team who held a lead most of the game.

Schechinger pulled Northwest to within two at 64-62 with 2:59 left. At that point, it was obvious the Bearcats were not going to be denied a win.

A little over a minute later, Mustain tied the game at 64-64. Over the last four minutes, Northwest played stellar defense. Southwest Baptist final points came with 4:05 left in the game.

Northwest played winning basketball on both ends of the court. The Bearcats shot 52 percent from the field in the game.

“Hearing that statistic made our team light up because earlier in the season everyone was struggling with their confidence,” Mustain said. “Over the last few games we have been playing better. Our confidence has gone up.

“We all trust each other shooting the ball and knowing that it is going to be a quality shot and more than likely it is going to go in.”

Defensively, Northwest held Southwest Baptist to 33 percent from the field in the second half.

“At the end of the day, our players made plays and that is the growth we are making as a team,” Smith said.

Just when it looked like silly turnovers were going to send Northwest into halftime with another double-digit deficit, the Bearcats rose up and played their most inspired basketball in the final 3 minutes of the first half.

Northwest trailed 37-24 and was in bad shape with 3:12 left in the first half. The amazing turnaround that led to a 38-37 halftime lead for Northwest started with a three-point play by Meyer.

Meyer followed with her first three-point field goal of her young career, pulling Northwest to within seven at 37-30.

“It was huge,” Easton said Meyer’s baskets. “We let down our energy a lot in the first half and that kind of killed us. When she hit those two shots it brought that spark back.”

Morgan Walker took over and scored on consecutive buckets. Easton brought the Bearcats to only one point behind with a basket and Schechinger sent Northwest into halftime with a one-point lead on a layup.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —