After claiming a share of its 12th MIAA regular season title, the Northwest Missouri State Bearcat men’s basketball team moved to No. 4 in the NCAA South Central Region Rankings Wednesday announced by the rankings committee.

The Bearcats jumped three spots to No. 4 after sitting at No. 7 last week. Northwest stands at 21-5 heading into this week’s MIAA Men’s Basketball Championships as the No. 3 seed. Northwest takes on Southwest Baptist in the first-round at 8:15 p.m. Friday.

Midwestern State held onto the No. 1 spot after claiming a share of the Lone Star Conference regular season title and earning the 1-seed at this week’s LSC Championships.

Tarleton State also remained at No. 2 as Arkansas Tech held steady at No. 3 for the third week in a row.

Co-MIAA Champion Washburn checks in at No. 5 behind Northwest with Missouri Southern at No. 6, West Texas A&M at No. 7 and Co-MIAA Champion Central Missouri rounding out the top eight.

Texas A&M-International sits at No. 9 while Cameron joins the top 10 for the first time.

The South Central Region is made up of teams from the MIAA, Lone Star Conference, Heartland Conference and Great American Conference. Conference tournaments are this week for all four conferences. The winners of the MIAA, LSC and Heartland receive automatic bids to the eight-team NCAA South Central Region tournament, and the remaining five seeds are filled by at-large bids based on NCAA rankings. The newly-formed GAC does not have an automatic bid.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

After leading Northwest Missouri State to a share of the MIAA regular season championship, head coach Ben McCollum was named MIAA Coach of the Year as all-conference honors were announced by the league office on Tuesday.

McCollum, in his third-year at the helm of the Bearcats, earned his first Coach of the Year honors, leading Northwest to a 21-5 record overall and a 15-5 finish in the conference.

Along with McCollum, junior guard DeShaun Cooper was named to the All-MIAA First-Team after leading the league in free throw shooting. Cooper also led Northwest in scoring, steals and assists, helping guide the Bearcats to their 12th league title and first since the 2006-07 season.

Senior Jake Reinders was named to the All-MIAA Second Team. Reinders shot over 60 percent from the field and averaged over six rebounds per game. Reinders was also named to the All-MIAA Defensive Team finishing with 24 blocks on the season.

DeAngelo Hailey and Kyle Haake were named to the Honorable Mention All-MIAA Team – the first conference honors for both. Haake was near the top of the league in three-point shooting and free throw percentage while Hailey shot 83 percent from the free throw line and 42 percent from behind the three-point line.

The league’s leading scorer Keane Thomann was named Player of the Year while Matt Simmons of Fort Hays State was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Seth Jackson of Truman State earned Freshman of the Year accolades to round out the player of the year awards.

Missouri Southern and Northwest Missouri led the league with four All-MIAA selections apiece, followed by Central Missouri, Fort Hays State, Pittsburg State and Washburn with three each, Missouri Western, Southwest Baptist and Truman with two each, and Emporia State and Lincoln with one apiece.

The MIAA Centennial Basketball Championships begin Thursday at Municipal Auditorium in Downtown Kansas City, with the men taking the floor on Friday. Men’s award winners and All-MIAA First Team selections will be recognized prior to the 6 p.m. game Friday evening.

2011-12 ALL-MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Keane Thomann, Sr., C, Missouri Southern

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Matt Simmons, Sr., C, Fort Hays State

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Seth Jackson, G, Truman

COACH OF THE YEAR
Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri

FIRST TEAM
Keane Thomann, Sr., C, Missouri Southern**
Will McNeill, Jr., G, Washburn**
DeShaun Cooper, Jr., G, Northwest Missouri
Ryan Dougherty, Sr., G, Southwest Baptist
Jason Adams, Sr., G/F, Missouri Southern [r1]

**Unanimous Selection
[r1] – Repeat first team selection from last season

SECOND TEAM
Dominique Long,Jr., F, Central Missouri
Boo Hunter, Sr., G, Central Missouri
Jake Reinders, Sr., F, Northwest Missouri
Andra Bailey, Sr., F, Pittsburg State
Matt Simmons, Sr., C, Fort Hays State

THIRD TEAM
Karron McKenzie, Sr., G/F, Fort Hays State
Lavonte Douglas, Sr., F, Missouri Western
Moses Dayee, Sr., G/F, Fort Hays State
Marquis Addison, So., G, Missouri Southern
Eric Ray, Sr., G, Pittsburg State

HONORABLE MENTION

Widgett Washington, Jr., G, Central Missouri
Tola Lawal, Sr., G, Emporia State
Cedric Ridle, Jr., G, Lincoln
Jordan Talbert, So., F, Missouri Southern
TJ Johnson, Sr., G, Missouri Western
Kyle Haake, Sr., G, Northwest Missouri
DeAngelo Hailey, Jr., G, Northwest Missouri
Javon McGee, Jr., C, Pittsburg State
Robson Memnon, Sr., F, Southwest Baptist
Seth Jackson, Fr., G, Truman
Tom Norton, Jr., G, Truman
Martin Mitchell, Jr., G, Washburn
Bobby Chipman, Jr., F, Washburn

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Matt Simmons, Sr., C, Fort Hays State
Ryan Dougherty, Sr., G, Southwest Baptist
Will McNeill, Jr., G, Washburn
Jake Reinders, Sr., F, Northwest Missouri
Andra Bailey, Sr., F, Pittsburg State

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State men’s and women’s track and field teams has qualified one individual each, Will Haer and Lekiesha McKnight, for this year’s 2012 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championships. The meet will take place on March 9-10 in Mankato, Minn.

Haer was a runner-up finisher at last week’s MIAA Indoor Championships in the pole vault. The junior posted his NCAA provisional mark of 16’ 1.25” last month at the Concordia Classic in Seward, Neb. The jump also ranked the Craig, Mo., native third on the Northwest indoor all-time list and will be seeded 12th at the NCAA Championships.

McKnight fought off tough competition in the shot put, placing fourth at last week’s MIAA Championships. Her mark of 47’ 2.25” pushed her onto the NCAA Performance list for next month’s NCAA Championships and was also a personal best moving her to third on the Northwest indoor all-time top 10.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

After earning a split with the Riverhawks on Saturday Northwest Missouri State looked to do the same with Arkansas Tech Sunday afternoon. However the Bearcat bullpen faltered as the Wonder Boys took a 14-7 win at Rousey Field in non-conference college baseball action.

The Bearcats fell to 1-7 on the year as regional power, Arkansas Tech, moved to 7-6 on the season. Northwest opens MIAA action next weekend as they travel to Fort Hays State for a four-game series starting with a single nine inning game on Friday.

After falling behind 6-0 the Bearcat bats answered the call scoring three runs in the third inning and two more in the fourth to pull within one run.

Jake Kretzer led off with a single and one batter later Travis Green would double Kretzer home starting the rally. After a walk to Jon Pomatto, Ryan Abernathy would crush a bases clearing triple into the gap to make the score 6-3.

The Bearcats’ two runs in the fourth would also come via a Travis Green triple just ahead of a Kretzer’s sacrifice fly. Green went 3-for-4 on the day with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Northwest would scratch across runs in the fifth and another in the sixth on Abernathy’s fourth hit of the day driving home Green. The run pulled the Bearcats to within 11-7 as Abernathy finished 4-for-5 with three RBIs in the loss. Abernathy also extended his brief hitting streak to seven games.

However that would be as close as the Bearcats could get as Cody Hatman shut down Northwest out of the Wonder Boys’ bullpen. Hatman pitched five innings and scattered 10 hits, but only allowed the one run.

Northwest starter Chase Anderson only went 3.1 innings allowing five hits and six runs while walking three and striking out three.

Josh Parrish faced the same tough luck as he only lasted 2.2 innings giving up four hits and five runs. Only two of Parrish’s runs were earned however, as errors haunted the Bearcats in the Oklahoma finale.

Northwest finished with 17 hits on the day, a season high, however, the Bearcats gave up four home runs to Arkansas Tech as well.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State softball team closed out the UAM Quad-State Classic Sunday with a pair of wins. The Bearcats earned an 8-5 victory over UMSL and an 11-3 win in five innings from host Arkansas-Monticello to finish a successful weekend.

The Bearcats got back to the .500 mark on the season after going 4-1 on the weekend. Northwest continues tournament action next weekend as they head to Joplin for the Teri Mathis-Zenner Memorial Tournament hosted by Missouri Southern.

In Sunday’s early game, Northwest scored eight runs on 10 hits and held off a rally from UMSL to cap the 8-5 win.

In their final game of the tournament the Bearcats stopped a red-hot Arkansas-Monticello team. Northwest halted UAM, who had won six straight, taking a five inning 11-3 win from the host school.

The Bearcats only loss of the tournament came Saturday morning to the University of Illinois-Springfield. After jumping out to an early 2-0 lead the Prairie Stars rallied scoring six unanswered runs for an 11-3 win ending the game in the sixth inning.

In the nightcap on Saturday the Bearcats downed Rockhurst 6-4.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State track and field teams did not come home with any team or individuals titles at the MIAA Indoor Championships, but had several performances to help solidify NCAA Provisional marks for the NCAA National Championships in March.

The Bearcat men finished seventh as a team while the women finished ninth during the three-day event. Central Missouri ran away with the men’s title while Lincoln edged Central Missouri on the women’s side.

Seven Northwest men earned top five finishes highlighted by Travis Manning and Porter Groves who each improved their NCAA provisional marks while Will Haer completed a runner-up finish in the pole vault.

Groves earned a third-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 48 feet. Groves was just six inches behind champion Taylor McClelland from Missouri Southern with a jump of 48-06.75. The Lions claimed first and second-place finishes in the triple jump as they earned a runner-up team finish.

Travis Manning improved his time in the 60-meter hurdles, but will have to wait and see if it was fast enough to earn a spot in next month’s National Championships.

Although Haer did not improve on his NCAA provisional standing, the junior stands to likely earn a spot in the NCAA meet with his jump earlier this winter.

Pittsburg State’s Colby Snyder recorded a 16-10.00 jump in the pole vault to claim the title, which was an automatic mark.

The Bearcat women saw a three top five finishes from Brittany Poole, Lekiesha McKnight and Chloe Wichman who earned her top five finish in the 600-yard run, while Brianna Evans earned an NCAA provisional in the 60-meter dash.

McKnight, who bettered her NCAA provisional, finished fourth in the shot put with a distance of 47-02.25. MIAA Champion Kayla Muyskens who threw an NCAA automatic mark of 49-09.75.

Poole ran to a third-place finish in the 3,000-meters with a time of 10:12.15 behind runners from Lincoln and Emporia State’s Katelyn Mona’s first-place time of 10:00.59.

Evans was up against some of the toughest competition as MIAA Champion, Latoya King of Lincoln, raced to the title while also capturing a building record with a time of 7.53. Evans provisional mark sits in the middle of the pack as she will also have to wait to see if her time of 7.72 will qualify her for the NCAA meet.

Evans and the rest of the Bearcats won’t know for sure if they’ve qualified for NCAAs until Feb. 28 when the official entry list is revealed. The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships are set for March 9-10 in Mankato, Minn.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Needing a win and help to earn the final spot in next week’s MIAA tournament the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats could not find an answer for either as they fell 61-49 to Missouri Southern in the season finale Saturday afternoon.

Northwest closes the season with a 6-22 overall record and a 4-16 mark in conference play. The Lions finish at 8-18 and 4-16 in league play as well. The loss also snaps a streak of two consecutive postseason appearances.

The Bearcats fell behind early as MSSU built a 16 point lead and trailed 34-25 at the break.

Senior Shelly Martin would not go quietly hitting a three-pointer just ahead of the buzzer at halftime to pull Northwest within nine. Martin finished with a team high 14 points.

In the second half Northwest would chip away at the Lion lead trailing 36-38 at the 13:34 mark to cap an 11-2 Bearcat run. However the Lions would answer with a 7-2 run to extend the lead back to seven before Ashley Thayer drilled a three to pull make it a four point game.

However the early deficit was too much as the Bearcats shot only 24 percent on the afternoon compared to the Lions who shot just below 40 percent. Missouri Southern also outscored the Bearcats 34-8 in the paint.

Seniors Abby Henry and Martin close their career in the top 10 of several categories in the Northwest record books.

Martin finishes as the all-time leader in three-pointers and free throw percentage at Northwest. Henry holds the record for most free throws in a season and moves into the top 10 on the all-time scoring list.

Both Henry and Martin are members of the 1,000 point club and rank top 10 all-time in steals, as Henry also sits in the top 10 for assists in a career.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State Bearcat baseball team picked up their first win of the 2012 season Friday afternoon beating the Northeastern State Riverhawks 12-6 at Rousey Field.

Ryan Abernathy got the Bearcats (1-4, 0-0 MIAA) off to a hot start doubling down the left field line to start off the game.  Abernathy would cross the plate off of a two-out Tyler Durant single.  A wild pitch and an error would put Northwest up 2-0 in the first.

A Jon Pomatto double in the second inning would spark a three-run inning to push the Northwest lead to 5-0.

With the lead at 9-0 in the third, the Riverhawks (3-5) would answer with two runs off of starter Chris Green.

The Bearcats weren’t finished scoring as they were able to push across single runs in the fourth, fifth and ninth innings.

Northeastern State would score two runs in the fifth and eighth innings before Josh Parrish came in and collected the final four outs for Northwest.

Green earned the win for the Bearcats after allowing three hits in four innings with four strikeouts.

Krueger led a balanced Bearcat attack, finishing the day 3-for-3 with two walks.

Abernathy, Pomatto, and Cameron Bedard also had multiple hits for Northwest on their way to a season-high 12 runs scored.

“We felt like we had an outstanding week of practice and it led to being prepared for our start today,” head coach Darin Loe said.  “Our offense did a great job early and we played outstanding defense all day.”

The Bearcats will look to continue their hot play Saturday as they face Arkansas Tech followed by another match-up with Northeastern State.  First-pitch from Rousey Field is slated for 11 a.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —