By David Boyce

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – No drama. No last-second shots. Northwest Missouri State simply took control of the MIAA Tournament championship game in the latter stages of the first half and efficiently put an end to Central Missouri’s season.

The Bearcats repeated as MIAA Tournament champions with a 69-61 victory Sunday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium. Central Missouri needed to win to keep its season alive.

“This was great,” said Northwest senior Zach Schneider said. “Mac (Northwest coach Ben McCollum) told us that since the tournament moved here, no team has won back-to-back titles. It is another thing to add to our list. I am just glad we were able to do it in front of a huge Bearcat crowd. That was awesome.”

Northwest, 29-1, will now return to Maryville, Mo., and at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, get confirmation that it will play host to the eight-team Central Regional, which starts Saturday. The Division II Tournament selection show will be streamed on NCAA.com.

“This atmosphere was great,” said junior Brett Dougherty, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds. “We are going to see the same thing at our place. It should be a lot of fun.”

In the Bearcats’ first two wins in the MIAA Tournament, Northwest needed to make plays on offense and defense until the final seconds to come away with four-point victories over Lincoln University and Missouri Southern.

“The first two games were unbelievably difficult, and even this game was tough at the start,” McCollum said. “Our kids stayed focused and now it is on to the next.”

Northwest had much more control of the second half this time around. The Mules scored the first basket in the second half to cut their deficit to 40-30.

The Bearcats scored the next five points on a basket by Dougherty and a three-pointer by freshman Ryan Welty.

“It felt really good,” said Welty, who was 3-for-3 on three-point shots. “We got a lot of shots off. The guards did a good job driving and kicking out. It felt good to see them go down today.”

Northwest grabbed too many offensive rebounds and were making too many shots to let Central chip away. In fact, the Bearcats expanded their advantage over the next several minutes.

When Welty hit another three-pointer with 12:50 left, the Bearcats held a commanding 59-36 lead. At that point, Northwest was content to take time off the clock. They only scored seven points over the next 11 minutes. Central kept playing hard and closed to 66-55, but only 1:50 remained in the game.

“It is a lot less nerve-wracking,” Schneider said. “It was nice we were able to relax a little bit in the last 10 minutes and get our legs under us.”

In the final 10 minutes of the first half, Northwest put together it best offensive stretch in the tournament. The execution in those minutes turned a close game into a 40-28 halftime lead for the Bearcats.

“I didn’t think we came out great, and Central did come out energetic,” McCollum said. “We slowly found our rhythm offensively. We are able to expose some things they were doing defensively. We guarded them well.”

Central took an early 11-6 lead. Northwest scored the next seven points and grabbed its first lead at 13-11 and the fun began. Over the next 3 minutes, the lead changed hands four times.

The Mules took a 14-13 lead on a three-pointer. Northwest responded with a basket by Pitts. Central went back in front with another three-pointer. Pitts put Northwest back in front with a three-pointer, making it 18-17.

Northwest didn’t stop there. The Bearcats solidified their advantage with a four-point play from Schneider, making it 22-17. The Mules never recovered.

“It set the tone,” Schneider said. “We kind of came out slow. I think that was the turning point in the game. From then on, we rode that wave and really played well the rest of the way.”

The Bearcats continued to make baskets at a faster rate than Central. When senior Anthony Woods scored a two-point field goal, Northwest held it first double-digit lead at 35-24 with 4:19 left. Three minutes later, the lead ballooned to 40-26 when Pitts nailed a three-pointer just before the shot-clock buzzer.

“We had a good stretch there where we out-rebounded them, getting O-boards and easy buckets,” Welty said. “It didn’t put the game away, but it gave us an advantage in the second half.”

Northwest shot 53.3 percent from the field and pulled down nine more rebounds, which contributed to the Bearcats taking eight more shots.

“Winning this tournament means a lot,” Dougherty said. “For us, winning a tournament, is a whole other deal. Putting games together like this in a tough conference is pretty cool.”

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team beat Lindenwood University, 10-0, on Sunday afternoon at Bearcat Field in Maryville, Mo.

– The game was called in the seventh inning due to the conference’s run rule.

– The Bearcats improved to 10-6 on the year with the win and are now 2-4 in conference play. The Lions fall to 9-7 and 3-3 in MIAA action with the loss.

– Brad Roberts threw all seven innings for Northwest. He allowed just two hits on the afternoon, striking out six with three wallks. It was his second win of the year.

– Landon Figg was 3-for-4 on the day with three runs scored and two RBIs. He had a pair of doubles in the game.

Key Northwest Statistics
– The Bearcats scored three in the first, one in the third, one in the fifth and five in the seventh.

– Northwest finished the game with 10 runs on eight hits with no errors. Lindenwood had two hits and committed two errors.

– James Holler was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, a stolen base and a run scored. He also drew a walk. His RBI triple in the seventh gave Northwest a 9-0 lead.

– Luke Hassman went 1-for-3 with three runs driven in. He also crossed the plate once and hit a sacrifice fly.

– Kolby Greenslade got a hit in his only at bat, coming in the seventh inning. His single to center drove in the winning run.

– Ozzie Adams was 1-for-3 with a walk. He scored three times on the day.

– Garrett Fort drew a pair of walks and came around to score twice.

– Alixon Herrera and Logan Rycraft both drew walks in the game. Rycraft was hit by a pitch and stole a base.

Key Northwest Innings
– Fort led off the game with a walk and Adams reached on an error by the short stop. Figg laced a ball that hit the Lindenwood pitcher, allowing him to reach on an infield single to load the bases. Hassman singled to right to drive in Fort to make it 1-0. Holler then ripped a double down the right field line to score Adams and Figg. Hassman was tagged out at the plate on the play, trying to score from first.

– In the third, Hassman hit a deep double over the left fielder’s head to begin the inning and went to third on a wild pitch. After a pair of outs, Hassman came home on another Lindenwood wild pitch to make it 4-0 Bearcats.

– Adams drew a four-pitch walk to begin the fifth inning for Northwest. A wild pitch allowed him to go to second and he moved to third on a groundout to the right side. Hassman came up with a sacrifice fly to left, making it a 5-0 Bearcat lead.

– The bottom of the seventh started with a walk by Fort and Adams hit a single up the middle that couldn’t be fielded by the pitcher. Figg found a gap in left center for a stand-up double, driving in both runners. After a pitching change, Figg moved up to third on a wild pitch. Hassman hit a grounder to short but the throw home to get Figg bounced to the back stop, allowing Figg to score and Hassman to take second. Holler hit an RBI triple to deep left to make it 9-0 Bearcats. Greenslade was called on to pinch hit and delivered a single up the middle, scoring the winning run.

Up Next
– The Bearcats continue their seven-game homestand on Friday, March 10, with a 2 p.m. MIAA contest against Washburn.

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State University softball team got two wins on Sunday over McKendree University, 5-1, and Upper Iowa, 10-0.

– Both games were played as part of the Teri Mathis-Zenner Tournament hosted by Missouri Southern in Joplin, Mo.

– Northwest went 4-0 over the weekend to move its record to 8-6 on the season with the two wins on Sunday.

Game One Key Statistics (Northwest 5, McKendree 1)
– Northwest scored one run in the second, two in the fifth and two in the seventh. McKendree scored its lone run in the fourth.

– Northwest had five runs on seven hits with two errors. McKendree scored one run and was limited to two hits and two errors.

– Kaitlin Weis was 2-for-3 in the first game with an RBI and a run scored.

– Abigail Gilson was 2-for-3, driving in a pair of runs and scoring once. She led off the fifth inning with a solo shot to left.

– Torri Blythe reached base twice on walks, stole a base and crossed the plate twice.

– Jessica Rawie was 1-for-3 in the first game.

– Karli Allen was 1-for-3 with a run scored.

– Rebecca Maher drive in a run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

– Weis, Chantel Adams and Kiana Baderdeen all recorded sacrifice bunts.

– Taylor Blackford got the complete game victory in the circle. She allowed just two hits, no earned runs and struck out three.

Game One Key Innings
– Weis led off the second with a single to left. After a sacrifice bunt to move her to second, Gilson drove her in with a single down the left field line to make it 1-0 Northwest.

– Gilson led off the fifth by breaking the 1-1 tie with a home run on a full count to left field. After a pair of outs, Blythe drew a walk. She then stole second and reached third on an error by the catcher. Moses reached on an error by the first baseman, allowing Blythe to score from third.

– In the seventh, Allen singled to lead off and went to second on a Baderdeen sacrifice bunt. After a Blythe walk, Moses singled to left center to load the bases. Maher hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Allen to make it 4-1. Weis then hit an infield single to short, allowing Blythe to score to make it 5-1 Northwest.
Game Two Key Statistics (Northwest 10, Upper Iowa 0)
– The Bearcats scored three runs in the second, three in the third and four in the fourth.

– Northwest had 10 runs on 13 hits with one error. Upper Iowa had two hits in the game that was called after five innings due to the run rule.

– Holly Posegate got the win, pitching 5.0 innings. She allowed just the two hits and did not issue a walk. It was her fifth win of the season.

– Gilson was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, three runs scored and a home run.

– Rawie was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored.

– Baderdeen was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a double.

– Maher was 2-for-3 with a run scored. She had a double to lead off the fourth inning.

– Weis was 2-for-4 with a home run and a double.

– Adams was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. She scored twice in the second game and recorded a triple.

– Allen went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

– Blythe drove in two runs and stole a base.

Game Two Key Innings
– Adams led off the second with a triple to right and came in to score on a Rawie single. Northwest would load the bases for Baderdeen who grounded out to second but Rawie was able to come around to score. Blythe hit into a fielder’s choice that allowed Gilson, who singled earlier, to come in for the inning’s third run.

– The third inning started with a Weis home run ot right center. Three batters later, Allen singled to drive in Rawie who had reached on a fielder’s choice. Baderdeen would hit a single to load the bases and force a pitching change. Blythe then drew a bases loaded walk to force in a run to make it 6-0 Bearcats.

– Maher doubled to center to start the fourth. After an out, Adams drew a walk and Rawie singled to right, scoring Maher. Gilson added the exclamation point with a home run to center, driving in three to make it a 10-0 game.
Up Next

– Northwest will play a double header at William Jewell on Wednesday, March 8 at 1 and 3 p.m.
— Northwest Athletics —