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 —