KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University junior guard Justin Pitts has been named the MIAA Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week. Pitts averaged 30.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in a pair of wins last week for the top-ranked Bearcats.

Against Nebraska-Kearney, Pitts scored a season-high 37 points on 14-of-22 shooting. He had seven assists, six rebounds and just one turnover. He was 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. On Saturday, Pitts scored 23 points with five rebounds, four assists and four steals. He was 3-of-7 from three point territory and 7-of-18 from the field. For the week, he went 10-of-10 from the charity stripe.

Northwest will play at Missouri Western on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 4 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Sharing the basketball is a hallmark for the No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team. But in uncharacteristic fashion, the Bearcats went into halftime with only two assists against Fort Hays State.

This one statistic helped explain why Northwest held a slim three-point lead after the first half.

The Bearcats quickly returned to form at the start of the second half. They scored their first two field goals on assists by junior Justin Pitts. The Bearcats’ basketball world was back in order.

Northwest built a double-digit lead and carried it to an 82-72 victory Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena. Northwest improved to 18-0 overall an 10-0 in the MIAA.

“It is just game by game,” said Northwest junior Brett Dougherty about the undefeated start to the season. “We don’t look too far ahead. This week, when we played Nebraska-Kearney, we focused on Kearney. When that game is done, we take it to the next one.

“Coach always preaches that being undefeated is a result, but the way you get there is taking it one step at a time.”

The Bearcats set the tone in the second half when Pitts passed the ball inside to Dougherty for a layup. On the next possession, Pitts hit junior Xavier Kurth in the corner for a three-pointer. The back-to-back field goals gave Northwest a 41-33 lead.

“I think when you are assisting the ball, it is a good sign your offense is doing well and moving it,” said Dougherty, who finished with 10 points. “In the first half, we struggled a little bit with that. In the second half, we did a little bit better.”

Fort Hays, which dropped to 10-7 and 4-5 in the MIAA, kept battling. Northwest held a 45-39 lead with 13 minutes left, and that was when the Bearcats got real separation from the pesky Tigers.

A three-pointer by senior Zach Schneider pushed Northwest’s lead to 48-39. On the next possession, senior Anthony Woods slipped a nice pass inside that Dougherty turned into a reverse layup, making it 50-39.

“That was huge,” said Northwest associate head coach Austin Meyer said. “There wasn’t a lot of flow to the game.”

Pitts, who finished with 23 points, followed with two free throws and then scored a two-point field goal off an assist from Schneider. The 14-0 run ended with two free throws from freshman Ryan Welty, making it 59-39.

To the Tigers’ credit, they didn’t quit. They started firing three-pointers and making them. They closed to 70-60 with 5 minutes, 58 seconds left on a three-pointer by Rob Davis.

And with 1:30 left, Northwest held a 72-64 lead. Two free throws by Pitts with 1:04 left put the Bearcats up 74-64.

It was fitting that the last field goal by Northwest came on a nice pass from senior Chris-Ebou Ndow that led to a layup by Woods with 44 seconds remaining that pushed Northwest’s lead back to 10 at 76-66

“We were pleased with our energy and effort most of the game,” Meyer said. “We knew they were a good offensive rebounding team. We didn’t do a good job of blocking out.

“As far as being in the game, and playing hard, we did a good job of that.”

After jumping to a 21-9 lead, Northwest hit the cruise control button and coasted into halftime ahead 36-33 lead.

The Bearcats never trailed in the first half, but after their initial burst, they didn’t quite have the energy they displayed in the second half against Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday.

Early on, it appeared Northwest was going to take a double-digit lead into halftime. Back-to-back three-pointers by Ndow gave the Bearcats a 12-4 lead.

Northwest held a 29-20 lead when the sputtering began. A few times Northwest made great passes to setup a layup, but the layup didn’t fall through the nets.

The Bearcats also lost some focus at the free throw line, missing seven in 20 attempts. Those misses allowed Fort Hays to slowly crawl back into the game.

“We stepped off the peddle a little bit and let them get a chance to come back and they took the chance and played really well,” said Ndow, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. “It wasn’t just us playing bad. They came ready. They really wanted this game and they showed it.”

Fort Hays ended the first half with all the momentum when Trey O’Neil nailed a 30-foot trey with a few seconds on the clock that helped the Tigers close to three.

The focus was definitely there for the Bearcats in the second half. They made all 16 of their free throw attempts.

“I think everybody has the confidence to step up and hit free throws when they are in the game,” Ndow said. “In the second half, we needed some big free throws and everybody stepped up and knocked them down.”

— Northwest Athletics —

By David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State’s women’s basketball team put together its most impressive performance in over two years Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena.

Facing Fort Hays State, the 23rd -ranked team in the WBCA top 25, the Bearcats led from start to finish in their 92-80 victory. Northwest has now won two of its last three games.

“Since I have been here, this is one of the biggest wins we have had,” said junior Tanya Meyer, who finished with a game-high 28 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. “This was a good game for us. I think it will definitely help with the games coming up, especially Missouri Western next weekend.”

The performance caught Northwest coach Buck Scheel by surprise.

“After today’s shoot-around, I thought we would be on the losing end. I am glad they proved me wrong,” Scheel said. “They stepped up bigtime today. They really played inspired, and they played together for 40 minutes.”

As nice as the Bearcats’ win at Southwest Baptist was a week ago, Northwest was more impressive against Fort Hays, particularly in the fourth quarter when the Tigers unleashed a full-court press.

For the most part, the Bearcats handled it and once they got the ball across half court, they executed their offense at a high level.

“It was a little dicey at times,” Scheel said of breaking the press. “They weathered the storm and in the second half, they handled it much better because they were more aggressive against it.”

Northwest took an 11-point lead into the final quarter and maintained a double-digit advantage most of the final 10 minutes. The best example of it occurred with 5 minutes, 10 seconds remaining in the game. Arbrie Benson tossed a perfect pass inside to Meyer, who made the layup. The field goal gave Northwest an 80-64 lead.

“We just didn’t want to panic,” said Benson, who finished with 22 points. “We wanted to keep competing and execute on offense and stay aggressive on defense to get the big lead back.”

The Bearcats simply had too many players operating at a high level on offense for Fort Hays to defend. Benson had nice drives to the baskets. Jasmin Howe was knocking down three-point bombs. Meyer was scoring inside and outside. Mallory McAndrews hit several timely three-pointers.

“We have kids who are very capable of putting up those numbers,” Scheel said. “We just have to do it consistently. You have to come in with that focus and demand it of yourself.”

And every Northwest player who stepped on the court hustled on defense. It was the type of performance that Scheel wants to see the rest of the season.

“I told them in the locker room that this is how you want to feel after a game,” Scheel said. “They competed the full 40 minutes. I am extremely proud of them.”

Midway through the third quarter, Northwest faced its stiffest challenge in the game. The Bearcats’ comfortable lead had dipped to 47-45. Fort Hays was charging hard.

Northwest stayed composed, scoring the next four points. With those two baskets, the Bearcats had the confidence to finish the quarter strong. Leading 53-48, Northwest got a basket from Meyer followed by a three-pointer from Howe that gave the Bearcats a 58-48 lead.

The Bearcats were so on top of their game that when third quarter buzzer was close to sounding, Howe hit an off-balanced three-pointer at the top of the key that sent Northwest into the fourth quarter with a 65-54 lead.

In the first half, Northwest scored the first seven points of the game and never had an offensive lull. The strong performance on the offensive end allowed the Bearcats to take a 40-31 lead into halftime.

The game started with Howe knocking down a three-pointer and she followed with a two-point bucket. The 7-0 run concluded with a basket by Benson.

“That is huge for us to come out of the gates firing. That really helped us throughout the game,” said Howe, who finished with 25 points. “We came out ready to go.”

Fort Hays never got closer than four points the rest of the first quarter. When the Tigers closed to 14-10, Northwest responded with a three-pointer. And when it was 17-13, Carlie Wilhelmi had a put-back basket.

The Bearcats went into the second quarter with a 23-16 lead. Fort Hays once again closed to four points on a three-pointer to start the quarter. Northwest scored the next six points on baskets by Meyer, Howe and Benson that prompted Fort Hays to call timeout. The Bearcats held a 29-19 lead.

After the timeout, Northwest scored four more points. The 10-0 run put the Bearcats up 33-19.

Over the next 4 minutes, the Tigers cut their deficit to single digits until Meyer drained a three-pointer with about a minute left, giving Northwest a 40-30 lead.

Northwest made 15 of 30 shots from the field for 50 percent while holding the Tigers to 33.3 percent shooting from the field.

“We needed this one game against one of the top five teams in conference, and better yet, they are one of the top 25 teams in the country. That makes it even better,” Meyer said.

— Northwest Athletics —

By David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. – The way the Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team played the second half to beat Nebraska-Kearney 88-71 Thursday evening at Bearcat Arena deserves a double wow.

WOW! WOW!

The collective mettle coupled with spectacular and clutch shooting by Northwest in the final 20 minutes topped the Bearcats’ already high standard.

Nebraska-Kearney entered the game in second place in the MIAA and played with a desperation to stay within reach of Northwest.

The Bearcats, ranked No. 1 in the NABC top 25, once again showed why they remain the cream of the MIAA. The thrilling victory in front of a boisterous crowd of 1,979 lifted Northwest’s record to 17-0 overall and 9-0 in the conference.

“Being the No. 1 team, everybody is going to give you their best shot,” said junior guard Justin Pitts, who finished with a game-high 37 points on 14 of 22 shooting from the field. “They definitely brought it tonight.”

The things that Northwest did in the second half almost had to be seen to be believed. The Bearcats started the half with a one-point lead.

Four minutes later, Northwest held a 46-31 lead after scoring the first 14 points. It started with a basket by Justin Pitts and ended with a field goal by Xavier Kurth.

“We talked a lot about toughness,” said Northwest coach Ben McCollum about the halftime speech. “The first thing I said was we needed that first half. Somebody stood up to us, and we needed to see can you respond. Are you tough enough to respond? We kind of got bullied in the first half. I challenged to see are we tough enough.”

The Bearcats showed McCollum they are tough enough. But WOW No. 1 was enough to stave off Nebraska-Kearney.

Even though Northwest looked like it was in complete control, Nebraska-Kearney, which dropped to 12-5 overall and 5-3 in the MIAA, had other ideas. The Lopers started their comeback down 55-40. Two straight three-pointers quickly cut the deficit to nine.

With 9:02 left, Northwest held only a 55-51 lead. And this was when WOW No. 2 occurred. The Bearcats needed to make plays, and wow, they sure did.

Leading 57-53, Pitts drove to the basket, passed it to Chris-Ebou Ndow who made the layup and was fouled. He converted the three-point play.

When Northwest held a 60-56 lead, Zach Schneider drilled a three-pointer with 7:25 left. The Lopers came right back and closed to 63-60. At that point, Northwest put the game away by going on an 11-0 run for a 74-60 lead. Schneider knocked down a three-pointer and Pitts converted a three-point play during the run.

“Coming down the stretch, we started ball screens with Zach and I and they didn’t know what to do switching back,” Pitts said. “Every time they miscommunicated, we ended up scoring off of it.”

The icing came with 3 minutes left and Northwest holding a comfortable 79-66 lead. Schneider drilled his eighth three-pointer of the game.

“We talk about it all year that we have a lot of weapons,” said Schneider, who went 8 for 11 on three-pointers for 24 points. “They kind of took away Chris. JP and I went to the ball screen. If it is a different game, we will do something different. That is what was open today. We just knocked down the shots.”

Northwest withstood a gritty effort from Nebraska-Kearney in the first half and took a slim 32-31 into halftime.

“They had a great game plan. They executed it. They played with great energy,” McCollum said of Nebraska-Kearney. “Offensively, they are always good. It wasn’t our poor performance; it was their really good performance.”

From the start, it was obvious the Bearcats needed to grind it out to stay close. Nebraska-Kearney jumped to a 12-6 lead. Northwest fought back and tied it 16-16 on a three-pointer by Schneider.

Although they tied the game, the Bearcats were struggling with their offense. Nebraska-Kearney took advantage of another lull and went in front 20-16.

The four-point deficit sparked the Bearcats’ best sequence in the first half. Schneider started the 8-0 run with a three-pointer. The run concluded with a three-point play by Pitts followed by another two-point field goal by Pitts, giving Northwest a 24-20 lead.

The Lopers responded by scoring the next seven points for a 27-24 lead. Northwest answered on five quick points from Pitts to put the Bearcats back in front 29-27. After Nebraska-Kearney tied the game, Schneider hit his third, three-pointer of the half to make it 32-29. The Lopers finished the half with a two-point field goal at the buzzer.

Neither team was able to hold the momentum long in a back-and-forth first half. Statistically, the first half was just as close. Nebraska-Kearney was 12 for 26 from the field and Northwest was 12 for 25 from the field. Each team had 15 rebounds.

“We are going to have these types of games down the stretch,” Schneider said. “I think we took a big step today.”

— Northwest Athletics —

By David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. – A 14-point deficit late in the third quarter was too much for the Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team to overcome. But the Bearcats made it interesting.

With under 6 minutes left, Northwest pulled within three points but could get no closer. Nebraska-Kearney hung on to win 69-64 Thursday evening at Bearcat Arena.

“How the first half went was a direct reflection of yesterday’s practice,” Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. “I was very disappointed.

“I knew tonight’s game was going to be a dogfight. They are a much better team than they look on paper. I preached that into their heads after Saturday’s game. We didn’t come out and compete.”

Despite the loss, there were some encouraging signs from several Bearcats who showed they can be an offensive force when some of the key players are struggling

The play of sophomore Maria Dentlinger and senior Carlie Wilhelmi ignited Northwest’s offense in the third quarter. The Bearcats scored 20 points.

“At the start of the game, I wasn’t looking for my shot,” said Dentlinger, who finished with a team-high 15 points. “In the third quarter, my shot started going in.”

Northwest, though, was unable to counter Dentlinger and Wilhelmi’s pinpoint shooting with solid defense. The Lopers scored 24 points in the third quarter in took a 55-45 lead into the final quarter.

“It was great for them to get in the game and step up,” Scheel said. “We had some people who were struggling. Maria has played really well this past couple of games, and Carlie gave us great minutes off the bench. They really kept us in the game. It was good to see them step up and get it done.”

The deficit was worse earlier in the third quarter. Northwest fell behind 47-33 with 4 minutes left in the third and 52-38 a couple of minutes later. Thanks to a couple of baskets by Wilhelmi and a three-pointer by Dentlinger to concluded the third quarter, Northwest trailed by 10.

“Personally, I wanted to provide energy,” said Wilhelmi, who finished with nine points on 4 for 4 shooting from the field. “When everybody is on the same page as far as energy, we do really well. The bench needs to be just as energetic as everybody else on the floor.”

The Bearcats rode that momentum into the fourth quarter and scored the first five points to close to 55-50. A three-point play by Arbrie Benson with 9:07 left made it a five-point game.

All the momentum appeared to be on Northwest’s side when senior Jasmin Howe made two free throws with 5:38 left to make it 59-56. Northwest even got the ball back and attempted a three-pointer that would have tied the game. It didn’t fall through.

Northwest had another opportunity, but a turnover prevented the Bearcats from getting off a shot.

“That was a big possession for us,” Scheel said. “We didn’t do a good anticipating how they were going to guard. Our ball handler just has to have better awareness and understanding how they were going to guard us.”

The Lopers scored the next four points and held a 63-56 lead with 2:05 left.

In the first half, the shots weren’t falling for Northwest, but the Bearcats stayed close.

A bit of an unlucky break was the only reason why Northwest went into halftime trailing 31-25. With less than 40 seconds remaining in the second quarter, it appeared Howe’s long three-pointer beat the shot clock. It would have tied the game at 28-28.

Unfortunately, Howe’s three-pointer was waved off. The officials ruled it came just after the shot clock expired. Nebraska-Kearney played for the last shot and was successful when Michaela Barry buried a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Still, it was a successful first half for the Bearcats because they battled back from a 21-12 deficit midway through the second quarter. Just when it appeared Northwest was about to face a double-digit deficit, it ran off 10 straight points for a 22-21 lead.

“I thought once we woke up, we competed,” Scheel said. “When we are playing from behind and dig ourselves a hole, it is a lot of work.”

After Nebraska-Kearney regained the lead, Northwest took it right back on a three-pointer by Mallory McAndrews that gave the Bearcats a 25-23 lead.

The Lopers closed out the second quarter with two three-pointers from Barry and a basket by Imani Kyser.

— Northwest Athletics —

By David Boyce

BOLIVAR, Mo. – On a cold, icy Saturday evening in southwest Missouri, Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball made MIAA history with its 75-54 victory over Southwest Baptist at the Meyer Sports Center.

The No. 1-ranked Bearcats won its 20th straight regular season conference game and improved to 16-0 overall and 8-0 in the MIAA. The previous mark was 19 established in 1931 by Northwest, which was coached by legendary Henry Iba.

“It is really cool,” said Northwest junior forward Brett Dougherty, who finished with 10 points. “We didn’t really know about it until a few games ago. It is something we have worked really hard for.

“We have a lot of the same guys. It is the experience of knowing what to expect and what it takes to win and the level you got to get to.”

Despite his youthful age, coach Ben McCollum will soon enter legendary status if the Bearcats keep piling up victories in rapid fashion in the rugged MIAA.

“I don’t know if I am a legend on Iba’s level,” McCollum said with a laugh. “But it is certainly humbling to be able to break somebody as good as he was in coaching, especially in today’s day in age with all the scouting and all the coaching and all the different players.

“Honestly, the way millennials supposedly are, they are not supposed to be ready for every game. They have been. They have proven that their generation can do those things. They can be unselfish. They can be tough. They aren’t entitled. They are a special group.

“It is a spectacular record. There are people who have won conference championships and national titles. But there is only one team in the history of the MIAA that has won this many games in a row in league. That is big.”

Like in their previous 19 conference wins, the Bearcats used their successful formula of strong defense, sharing the basketball on offense and playing as a team in all phases.

Northwest also understands what it takes to continue to play strong in the second half regardless of the size of its advantage.

The Bearcats started the second half with a 17-point lead and never saw it dip under 15, and it only happened once when Baptist scored the first basket in the final 20 minutes to close to 41-26.

A three-pointer by junior Chris-Ebou Ndow, followed by a two-pointer by Ndow quickly increased the Bearcats’ lead to 46-26. Ndow finished with a team-high 18 points.

“That is one of our number one focus,” Ndow said. “Early on in the season, we had a tough time coming out in the second half and we blew big leads. Lately, we have been really good coming out in the second half and be ready and not underestimate any team.”

A few minutes later, Dougherty played a man’s game by powering inside for a couple of hard-nosed baskets in the paint. The second one gave Northwest a 51-28 lead.

“It is fun,” Dougherty said of scoring inside. “D Mo (D’Vante Mosby) and I work on our moves inside all the time. When we are able to get buckets inside, it makes it easier for everybody else.”

Northwest continued to cruise through the second half. An indication that the game was really going well occurred when the shot clock was winding down, forcing Zach Schneider to take a desperation guarded three-pointer. The shot banked in to give Northwest a 64-41 lead with less than 8 minutes left.

With 5 minutes remaining, Northwest held a 69-45 lead, which allowed McCollum to use his reserves.

Despite going into halftime with a comfortable 41-24 lead, the Bearcats once again got an early lesson about what it means to be the No. 1 target in the MIAA.

Baptist didn’t come out like a team that only has two conference wins and had just lost a home game to Missouri Western on Thursday. Baptist was locked in. They were playing tenacious defense and knocking down shots.

A three-pointer by Cartier Dean gave Baptist an early 10-5. The bad news for SBU is the shot shook the Bearcats out of their early doldrums. Northwest scored the next six on consecutive three-pointers from Justin Pitts and Ryan Welty to briefly give Northwest an 11-10 lead.

“We just kept our composure,” Ndow said. “We understand we are the No. 1 team. We understand they are going to come ready. We do have to do a better job of coming out ready and not let them feel good about themselves when the game starts. But when that happens, we have to calm down, stick to our game plan and eventually we will get in a rhythm.”

Baptist regained the lead and held it until Northwest went ahead for good on back-to-back baskets from Anthony Woods that put the Bearcats ahead 17-15. Northwest didn’t stop there. Free throws by Mosby and Ndow pushed the lead to 21-15. Pitts concluded the 10-0 run with a field goal, making 23-15.

Northwest closed out the first half strong. Leading 31-23, the Bearcats outscored Baptist 10-1 for the 17-point lead. Six players for Northwest scored at least four points. Northwest shot well from behind the arc, going 6 for 11.

By the end of the first half, everybody for Northwest was zeroed in, including associate head coach Austin Meyer. When Meyer noticed that a point wasn’t added for a free throw made by Dougherty, he politely told the scorer’s table that Northwest had 38 points instead of the 37 showing on the scoreboard.

“We got a little result happy to start the game,” McCollum said. “We wanted to win instead of focusing on the process. And then we got our energy right.

“We are trying to focus on the process so we can perform in the postseason and play our best in the end.”

— Northwest Athletics —

By David Boyce

BOLIVAR, Mo. – From the opening tip, Northwest Missouri State’s women’s basketball team showed a body language that clearly indicated it was tired of losing MIAA games.

The Bearcats knocked down three-pointers. They constantly regained leads when Southwest Baptist swayed momentum in its favor.

And most importantly, Northwest made plays down the stretch to pull out a 79-72 victory over Baptist Saturday afternoon at Meyer Sports Center for its first MIAA victory of the season.

“I was extremely pleased from the start,” Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. “I talked to them this morning after shoot around about competing. We are going to give ourselves a chance to win if we go out and compete. I really felt we set the tone early even when we had a couple of bad fouls and bad decisions, we kept competing.”

The Bearcats definitely showed that grit in the final 4 minutes.

A drive and layup by Jasmin Howe with 3:25 left gave Northwest a 73-68 lead and it grew to 75-68 on a basket by Tanya Meyer with 2:35 remaining.

“This win feels amazing,” said Meyer, who finished with 19 points. “It was much needed for sure. We all, as a team, had a pretty good feeling today.”

Another winning play for Northwest came on the defensive end with 27 seconds left. Northwest was clinging to a 75-72 lead when Mallory McAndrews took an offensive foul under Baptist’s basket.

“That was huge,” Howe said. “That just grew our momentum. That was a game-changer for us.”

Northwest got the ball back. Sophomore Arbrie Benson was fouled and she rattled in both free throws, giving Northwest a 77-72 lead with 15.6 seconds left.

“I just tried to relax and focus on making the free throws,” said Benson, who finished with a career-best 23 points.

Howe sealed the win with two more free throws with 6 seconds left.

After the final buzzer and handshake, the Bearcats raced to the locker room with smiles on their faces for a well-deserved team victory.

“This was exactly what we needed right now,” said Howe, who finished with 20 points. “We have been struggling a little bit. We have been right there in games. It shows once we keep our composure, we can go out there and win. We can take nothing but positive from this game.”

The Bearcats showed mental toughness in the third quarter. They gave up the first six points to start the quarter and fell behind 45-43. It didn’t get them down. Northwest scored the next five points for a 48-45 lead.

Much of the third quarter went that way. There were six more lead changes before the third quarter ended with the game tied 61-61.

“He (Scheel) has been stressing that we just need to go out and compete,” Meyer said. “If we compete, this happens.”

The Bearcats showed their competitive fire from the opening tipoff.

“We got together last night and just tried to get ourselves to stay focus and get a win,” Benson said. “We did pretty good today of staying focused and competing. It was about time to get on the winning track.”

Northwest came out and played its best first quarter in conference play and that carried the Bearcats to a 43-39 halftime lead.

The Bearcats started the game with a three-pointer by Meyer that gave Northwest a 3-0 lead. It was a harbinger of things to come. Northwest went 9 for 16 on three-pointers in the first half.

Despite the positive start, Northwest needed a few minutes to find its stride. Four different times, Southwest Baptist took leads in the first quarter. The last came at 15-14.

Northwest regained the lead at 17-15 on a three-pointer by McAndrews. Southwest Baptist tied it one last time in first quarter. A three-pointer by Benson followed by a two-point field goal by Benson gave Northwest a 22-17 lead.

The Bearcats concluded the first quarter with a three-pointer by Howe, making it 25-17.

“I think the first quarter we were getting shots and hitting them,” Meyer said.

Northwest scored the first four points in the second quarter for a 29-17 advantage. Baptist responded with eight straight points, closing to 29-25. The Bearcats didn’t panic. They regrouped and went on an 8-2 run for a 37-27 lead.

“You could tell today they had each other’s back,” Scheel said. “If somebody had a bad turnover or maybe ran something wrong, they were out there picking each other up.

Even though Northwest allowed Baptist to cut into its lead, the Bearcats played well enough to keep the lead and go into halftime ahead.

“That is the big thing is we didn’t lose our composure,” Howe said. “We didn’t panic and kept playing our game. It was a great victory.”

— Northwest Athletics —

By David Boyce

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The stage was set for No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri State to suffer its first loss of the season Thursday evening against the University of Central Missouri.

The Multipurpose Building was rocking in what was deemed a red out. Red towels were handed out to Central Missouri fans.

Northwest, though, never gave nearly 4,100 fans an opportunity to wave the red hankie. Of course, several hundred fans were in Bearcat green and weren’t looking to defect to Central Missouri

The Mules had a few moments in the first half but never tasted a lead. After taking a six-point lead into halftime, Northwest played near flawless basketball in the second half and beat their rival 67-54 to improve to 15-0 overall and 7-0 in the MIAA.

“This means a lot,” said Northwest junior Chris-Ebou Ndow, who finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. “We had a stretch where we won games pretty easily. Going down the stretch like this is really going to help. We are going to face some teams that we really have to grind it out. This was one of them.”

Northwest has now 19 straight MIAA regular season games, dating back to last year. The Bearcats tied an MIAA record that was established in 1931 by Northwest, coached by legendary Henry Iba.

“That is big time,” Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. “In this league, with all the good coaches and all the good teams that have been in here, to be able to able to accomplish something like that is an honor. I don’t think people understand how difficult it is to do that and how difficult to be ready night in and night out in this league.”

Early in the second half, Northwest punished the Mules’ zone defense. A three-pointer to start the second half by senior Zach Schneider gave Northwest a 33-24 lead.

“It was huge just to get the team going and get myself going,” said Schneider, who went 3-for-6 from behind the arc. “I have been struggling the last couple of games. I knew coming in I was going to get some looks. I was pretty confident that I was going to knock them down. That got me going for my next two shots.”

A few minutes later, a three-pointer from freshman Ryan Welty increased Northwest’s lead to 41-31.

But the definitive moment in the game came when Northwest held a 41-33 lead. It started with a three-point play by junior forward Brett Dougherty. It was followed by a three-pointer from Justin Pitts and then another three-pointer from Pitts, making it 50-33. Ndow added to the 11-0 run with a two-point field goal, making 52-33.

“We lick our lips,” Schneider said of facing a zone defense. “We know we are going to get great shots. It kind of threw us for a loop in the first half. We made some adjustments to get it more inside the zone. After that, it was really open. We have so many great shooters. They had to get out of it. They eventually went back to man.”

Comfortably ahead, Northwest showed its unselfish play when it made two quick passes that led to an easy, reverse layup from senior D’Vante Mosby, which gave the Bearcats a 61-44 lead.

Central Missouri didn’t give up. The Mules closed to 63-54 with 3:09 left. Northwest still needed to make a few more plays to secure a win. One came when Pitts made a drive, stopped and flipped in a high-arching, 5-foot tear drop with 2:40 left that gave Northwest an 11-point lead. It was a shot that probably brought tears to the Central Missouri faithful.

Thirty seconds later, Pitts drove for another layup, increasing the lead for Northwest to 67-54.

“I don’t think we played overly well offensively, in the first half, but we withstood that,” McCollum said. “We weren’t totally ready to go. It wasn’t like we were bad when we started, but our concentration wasn’t at the level it had been.

“In the second half, we clicked a little bit better. But credit Central. I thought they did a good job defending us. I thought they had a good game plan.”

From the opening tip, it was obvious the first half was going to be a gritty, defensive battle. Northwest went into its methodical, offensive mode and walked into the locker room at halftime with a 30-24 lead.

Northwest scored the first seven points and never trailed in the first half, but the Bearcats worked hard to stay ahead.

After giving up the first seven points, Central Missouri fought back, closing to 14-11. Northwest responded with two free throws from Anthony Woods. It was a good sign. Woods missed the last three games with an injury.

Leading 16-11, Northwest received some of that Pitts magic. He nailed a three-pointer, giving the Bearcats an eight-point advantage. Northwest eventually increased its lead to 27-16.

An energetic Central Missouri crowd made sure the Mules weren’t going to get blown out of the Multipurpose Building in the first half. The Mules went on a 6-0 run and closed to 27-22.

The thing that makes Northwest so difficult for opposing teams is anybody can score. The Bearcats hit Central Missouri with a three-point dagger late in the first half from Welty to make it 30-22.

Northwest only shot 42 percent in the first half, making only eight field goals, but five of those field goals were three-pointers compared to one trey for the Mules.

“It was tough,” Ndow said. “Their fans were into it. They had a little run. It was tough to stop the bleeding. To go into half with a lead, considering how hard they were working, it was big.”

— Northwest Athletics —