MARYVILLE, Mo. -The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team entered Wednesday night’s game at Bearcat Arena against Lindenwood needing a win.

But the Bearcats faced a difficult task trying to break a modest two-game losing streak. They were facing the first place team in the MIAA and were playing without freshman point guard Justin Pitts, who missed his second straight game because of an ankle injury.

Overcoming adversity in a season builds character. The 2014-15 Bearcats proved once again that they have plenty of it. Northwest picked up a much-needed victory, beating Lindenwood 74-61.

“It was really important,” Grant Cozad said of the win. “We were on a two-game losing streak. To be home with the home crowd helped us. To get that monkey off our backs and get our confidence back is big to go on the road to Lincoln.”

Northwest improved to 14-5 overall and 7-4 in the MIAA, and Lindenwood dropped to 8-3 and 13-7.

“We wanted to play with emotion from the start and I think we did,” Cozad said. “Playing the number one team in conference definitely helps. It brings out the fire in you.”

Going without Pitts, who leads the Bearcats in scoring with a 16.1 points per game average, Northwest needed contributions from everybody. The Bearcats got it.

Cozad, a 6-foot-8 senior center, played a man’s game in the paint against Lindenwood’s 6-9 center Sam Mader. Cozad finished with 22, hard-earned points.

“I started off a little slow, trying to get the feel for it,” said Cozad, who had nine rebounds. “I kind of stepped up there and took it to them. I was ready for it. I had a couple of bad games leading up to this one. I needed to have a good one. I felt like I did. I played physical with him down low. I had fun. I like it physical. It was a fun game.”

Sophomore wing man Zach Schneider made sure the inside didn’t get clogged up by drilling seven three-pointers and finishing with 21 points.

“I could feel it in warm ups,” Schneider said. “I knew it was going to be a good game. I knew I was going to get open looks tonight.”

And junior Lyle Harris, filling in for Pitts, played a steady game at point, making several nice passes to Cozad and doing a great job driving to the basket for layups. Harris finished with a career-high 15 points.

“I just got to do my job,” Harris said. “Basically, that is it. I have to make sure my teammates believe in me and I believe in them.”

Most impressively, Northwest maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.

A basket by Harris to start the second half, gave Northwest a 41-27 lead. The Bearcats’ advantage eventually grew to 50-32.

Lindenwood fought back, but needed a lot of time to close to 60-51 on a three-pointer by Darris Smith with about 6 minutes left.

Northwest quickly responded with a basket in the paint from Cozad and a three-pointer by Schneider with 4:32 left pushed the Bearcats’ lead to 65-51. Lindenwood never threatened again.

“Coming off those two losses, we got back to work,” Schneider said. “We had tough practices. This was our biggest rebounding margin this year, 32-18. That is the stat that sticks out to me.”

In the first 5 minutes of the game there were eight lead changes. The final one, a three-pointer by Harris propelled Northwest to a 10-8 lead that quickly grew to 15-10 thanks to a three-pointer by Schneider.

Northwest, particularly Schneider, remained hot from behind the arc and went into halftime with a 39-27 lead.

Schneider was on fire in the first half. He knocked down five three-pointers in eight attempts for 15 points.

The Bearcats also played strong inside behind Cozad and freshman Brett Dougherty. Cozad scored 10 points, going 4 for 5 from the field. Dougherty added five, including a three-point play that staked Northwest to an 18-12 lead.

From start to finish, Northwest proved it could play winning basketball while dealing with injuries.

“We have four injuries right now,” Schneider said. “We knew we were going to play a tight rotation with seven guys. Lyle stepped up big time and everyone else did, also. Anthony Woods and Brett gave us big minutes, too so it was good.”

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State senior Ariel Easton matched her career-high 30 points against Lindenwood with 18 minutes, 14 seconds remaining in the second half Wednesday evening at Bearcat Arena.

Easton didn’t break her scoring record until 3:50 remained. Her scoring drought was good for the Bearcats on two fronts.

It showed Easton played team basketball and didn’t force up shots when Lindenwood made a conscious effort to shut her down.

The other positive point was the rest of the Bearcats stepped up and made baskets. It was an overall team effort that led Northwest to an 81-72 comeback victory.

“Our kids responded in the second half,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said. “I challenged them at halftime. I told them we needed some other people to step up.

“Obviously, Ariel was having a career night, but we knew in the second half they would try to make some adjustments. More importantly, Ariel played with poise in the second half. She didn’t try to do too much and allowed her teammates to get involved.”

After three straight nail biters in which the final outcome was twice decided by one point and the other by two points, the nine-point win was far more comfortable.

“It felt great,” said Easton, who finished with a career-high 34 points. “With four minutes left, I kind of thought about that. We need to play defense and play composed like we did tonight.

“We are learning from our mistakes. Last week we let one get away because of that.”

Statistically, the Bearcats played at a very high level in the second half. They shot a blistering 57 percent from the field and committed only six turnovers. They also caused Lindenwood to shoot 29 percent from the field.

The Bearcats have now won three of their last four games. They continue to show growth as they move out of the basement of the MIAA and start their climb up the standings.

“I think our kids pressed in the first half,” Smith said. “They knew what was at stake as far as two teams battling to move up in the rankings.”

When Easton scored her 30th point, Northwest trailed just 41-40. But one player wasn’t going to beat Lindenwood. Although the Bearcats stayed close in the first half because of Easton, they needed a couple of other players to find their shot.

It finally happened when the Bearcats were down 47-43. A 13-0 run by Northwest started with a mid-range jumper from Taylor Shull, who struggled with her shot against Lindenwood.

Northwest tied the game at 47-47 on a bucket by freshman Samantha Hurst and took the lead for good on a basket by freshman Bailey Smith.

Freshman Tanya Meyer made back-to-back buckets and junior Tember Schechinger drilled a three-pointer, giving Northwest a 56-47 lead.

“It gave me confidence in them,” said Schechinger of the freshmen. “It helps me trust them a lot more. It helps everybody trust them more.

“When your offensive game is going that means your defensive game will probably step up a little. It just helps that you can trust your teammates. It is great to see them come off the bench and be ready. They were ready to play tonight.”

The trey by Schechinger triggered a hot streak from her. She made a couple more long three-pointers. Her third of the game gave the Bearcats a 68-58 lead with 5:20 left. She finished with 15 points.

“It does a lot for us,” Easton said of Schechinger’s three-pointers.

Easton finally broke her career-high with a basket with 3:50 left, helping Northwest maintain a double-digit lead at 72-62.

The first half was the Ariel Easton show.

If only someone else other than Easton could have scored in the first half, Northwest would have gone into halftime with a lead instead of a 39-35 deficit.

Easton was hitting shots all over the court. She scored 27 points in the first half. The only other player to notch more than two points was forward Shelby Mustain, who had four.

Foul trouble hurt Mustain. She saw just three minutes of action.

Despite the scoring troubles for the rest of the Bearcats, the game remained close and would have been closer if not for a ridiculous three-pointer by Kassidy Gengenbacher late in the first half that banked high off the backboard, which gave the Lions the four-point advantage.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —