The Northwest Missouri State University football team fell to Ashland University, 21-18, on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs at Jack Miller Stadium in Ashland, Ohio.

– The Bearcats finish the season with a 9-3 overall record while Ashland (11-1) advances and will host Harding next Saturday.

– Northwest is now 47-16 all time in NCAA playoff games, making 22 total appearances all time.

Key Northwest Defensive Statistics
– For the 12th time this season, the Bearcat defense did not allow an individual runner to go over 100 yards or score a rushing touchdown.

– The Eagles were forced into five turnovers, three coming by way of interception.

– Ashland was just 3-for-13 on third down attempts and 0-for-2 on fourth down.

– Ben Althoff set a career-high with 15 tackles.

– Caleb Mather blocked two punts. He blocked and recovered a ball in the second quarter at the Ashland 36 yard line. He also altered a fourth-quarter punt that traveled just 14 yards.

– Chance Hall had two interceptions on the day and Najeem Hosein had one pick.

– Blake Bayer had nine tackles and Caleb Mather added eight with 3.0 tackles for loss and a sack.

– Linebacker Jarrod Bishop had six tackles with 3.0 tackles for loss and a sack.

– Nick Hess had seven tackles with a forced fumble.

Key Northwest Offensive Statistics
– Jonathan Baker ran for a second quarter score and finished the day with 57 passing yards.

– Emanuel Jones had 40 yards of rushing on a team-high 16 attempts.

– Jordan Grove caught three passes for 38 yards with a touchdown from Zach Martin in the fourth quarter.

– Quincy Woods caught four passes for 33 yards.

Northwest Scoring Drives
– Northwest’s first score came on a 22 yard field goal by Parker Sampson. Hall’s first interception of the day gave the Bearcats the ball on their own 47 yard line after Ashland was driving. The drive was helped by a pass interference call on the Eagles that moved the ball down to the Ashland 32 yard line.

– On the ensuing drive, Marcus Jones forced a fumble that Ben Spaeth was able to recover for Northwest at the Eagles’ 17 yard line. four plays later, Baker called his own number and ran in the score from three yards out to make it 10-7 Bearcats in the second quarter.

– Midway through the fourth quarter, Hess was able to force a fumble that Edward Richey recovered at the Ashland 37. Two plays later, Martin found Grove on a 35 yard touchdown strike to make it 21-16. The Bearcats decided to go for two and after the first play was negated due to a penalty, Baker ran the ball in from the one, making the score 21-18 Ashland.

— Northwest Athletics —

By David Boyce – Northwest Athletics

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State’s men’s basketball team stared at a seven-point deficit early in the first half. No problem. The Bearcats unleashed their most potent offensive attack so far in this young season.

Northwest zoomed past Truman State midway through the first half, increased its lead to 21 early in the second half and cruised to a 90-70 victory Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena. Northwest, ranked No. 1 in Division II, improved to 4-0.

“A lot of times when we start off slow, it is our defense,” said senior Xavier Kurth, who finished with 14 points. “Our offense is really not a problem. We might miss a couple of shots, but it really starts for us on defense.

“Our job is to provide that spark on defense. I tried my best to shut down their leading scorer and cause some chaos.”

Everybody who stepped on the court for Northwest contributed on offense. One of the Bearcats finding his scoring mojo was Kurth, who also sparkled on defense. His most notable play came with 10 minutes left in the game. Northwest held a 73-54 lead and was in complete control. Northwest missed a shot and Truman State grabbed the rebound under the basket.

Kurth didn’t give up on the possession. He ripped the ball out of the Truman State player’s hands and kicked the ball back outside. Kurth got the ball back and scored, making it 75-54.

Another player who rose up and had his best game in a Bearcat uniform was junior Joey Witthus. He made four three-pointers in the first half that contributed to the comeback and finished with 18 points.

“It felt great,” Witthus said. “I give credit to my teammates. They continue to put their trust in me that I am going to hit the open shot when I am open. They found me when I was open. I give all the credit to them.”

And then there was senior Chris-Ebou Ndow. Truman State needed some Duke players to show up at Bearcat Arena to stop him. Ndow drilled three-pointers and drove strong to the basket for points in the paint. Ndow finished with 14 points.

“We are starting to learn each other’s strengths,” Kurth said. “We have a lot of new guys getting into the rotation this year. We are learning how to play together. I’m excited to see what this year brings for us.”

From the start of the second half, it was obvious Truman State didn’t have a chance. Northwest took at 47-36 lead into halftime, and the program’s all-time leading scorer, Justin Pitts, only had four points. Pitts, though, finished with 20 points.

“We have so many weapons that it could be him (Pitts) one night,” Witthus said. “It could be Chris another night and Xavier another night. There are so many weapons we have on offense that nobody worries about getting theirs because we all trust in each other to score on offense.”

The Bearcats got Pitts involved early in the second half. A backdoor cut by Pitts and a perfect bounce pass from senior Brett Dougherty led to an easy layup that made it 49-36.

After Truman State scored, Pitts drilled a three-pointer and Witthus followed with a three-pointer, making it 55-38. Northwest held a double-digit lead the rest of the game.

“Joey is big for us,” Kurth said. “He can set screens and can drive and he can pop them if you leave him open.”

The first half started with Northwest briefly stunned by the seven straight shots Truman State knocked down that put the Bearcats in a 15-8 hole.

The aggressive play by Kurth helped the Bearcats quickly climb above the break-even point. His strong moves to the basket awakened the Bearcats on both ends of the floor.

One of the strong moves by Kurth led to two free throws, which he made. It help Northwest close to 17-14. The Bearcats tied the game at 17-17 on the next possession on a three-pointer by freshman Ryan Hawkins with 13:14 left in the first half.

Three minutes later, Northwest took its first lead at 24-21 on three-pointer by Witthus. The Bearcats then had a 4-minutes stretch in which they hit three-pointer after three-pointer. Ndow had two. Witthus added his fourth three-pointer of the half that increased Northwest’s lead to 35-26 with 6:25 remaining.

Northwest stayed hot and built a 47-31 lead late in the first half. Truman State closed out the half by scoring the last five points, but the Bulldogs still went into halftime down double-digits.

Defensively, the Bearcats struggled some. But give credit to Truman State for knocking down shot after shot. The Bulldogs went 15 for 23 from the field in the first half for a blistering 65.2 percent.

Northwest was nearly as good on offense, going 16 for 28 from the field for 57.1 percent, and that included eight for 14 from beyond the arc.

It was a well-rounded offensive attack for the Bearcats. Kurth and Dougherty provided the offense in the paint with strong moves to the class. Witthus, Ndow, Hawkins and sophomore Ryan Welty drilled shots on the outside.

— Northwest Athletics —

By David Boyce – Northwest Athletics

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Two hours before tipoff for Northwest Missouri State’s home-opener at Bearcat Arena, men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum stood in the tunnel and remarked how Metro State’s pressing zone defense will pose some problems for his squad.

McCollum’s words weren’t coach speak. He knows he has a good squad. After all, the Bearcats, the defending national champions with three returning starters, won their first two games.

But McCollum realized it was going to take a while for his squad to figure out the Roadrunners’ defense that at times was as tricky as solving a Rubik’s Cube. For millennials, the Rubik’s Cube was a toy that became hugely popular in the early 1980’s.

As it turns out, seniors Justin Pitts and Chris-Ebou Ndow and sophomore Ryan Welty all know about the Rubik’s Cube, which probably shouldn’t be surprising in the Google world we live in. However, two of the players admitted they don’t know how to solve it.

Oh, back to the home-opener Friday evening. Northwest solved the defensive puzzle applied by Metro State and overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to win 69-58.

“You have to compete to win,” McCollum said. “We didn’t have a great week of practice. We weren’t locked in. You could see that tonight when we got beat on some back cuts. It was just a lot of little things we didn’t do. We did get a lot tougher in the second half, defensively in particular, getting rebounds and finishing plays.”

Behind their salty defense, the Bearcats improved their efficiency on offense in the second half to put the Roadrunners away. The second-half comeback started immediately with two free throws by Welty.

After Metro State scored, Pitts answered with a basket. He finished with 20 points and became the first player in the program’s history to score 2,000 points.

“It mean’s a lot,” Pitts said. “I never thought I could do something like this coming out of high school. I have been surrounded by such great teammates and coaches that give me the confidence. I am sure I will enjoy it a lot more after the season.”

As nice as that accolade was for Pitts, he knows that the success of Northwest is built on team play.

“It helps us a lot,” Pitts said of team play. “Coach gets on us a lot in practice that we have to be together the whole game or we will end up losing. They (Roadrunners) came out hard and played us tough every minute.”

Team play and a couple of three-point daggers by Welty turned the momentum in Northwest’s favor. Welty’s second trey closed the gap to 43-41 with 16:28 left.

“He is a big-time three-maker,” Pitts said. “He always hits them at the right time.”

Two minutes later, Northwest took the lead for good at 46-45 on a three-pointer by freshman Ryan Hawkins.

Metro State managed to stay close over the next six minutes. Northwest started to build separation on a three-point play by Pitts that made it 55-51 with 8 minutes left. Ndow followed with two free throws.

“We started to be more aggressive,” said Ndow, who finished with 19 points. “Obviously, against a press team, you kind of get on your heels a little bit. We have a lot of new guys who are not used to it.

“Coming out in the second half and attacking the press meant we were going to get a lot of open shots. We knocked them down in the second half.”

With 3 minutes left, Ndow hit a three-pointer that gave Northwest a 62-53 lead. And the game was safely in the Bearcats’ hands when Pitts hit a three-pointer with 2:25 remaining that made it 65-55.

“We started slowing it down; we actually started getting a lot of stops and that helped our offense,” said Welty, who finished with 12 points. “This was big. “It is always good to overcome adversity. It was a good win for us.”

The combination of hot shooting from Cameron Williams and a full court, trapping zone defense by Metro State sent Northwest into halftime behind 39-31.

The Bearcats started well, getting three-pointers from senior Ndow and junior Joey Witthus for an early 6-2 lead.

A three-point play by senior Brett Dougherty kept Northwest ahead. The lead blossomed to 13-7. From that point on, Northwest struggled to find an offensive rhythm. Three-pointers rimmed out for the Bearcats. Other times, Northwest turned the ball over.

Metro State took advantaged and scored the next eight points for a 15-13 lead. It looked like momentum was going to switch back to Northwest’s side when Welty dunked to tie the game at 19-19 with 8:30 left in the first half.

Northwest, though, never took off. Later in the first half, Williams drilled a couple of three-pointers. His second one extended the Roadrunners lead to 35-26. Williams scored 15 points in the first half, going six for 10 from the field. He finished with a game-high 21 points.

Ndow provided consistent offense for Northwest, making four of seven shots from the field for 12 points.

The big difference in the first half was Metro State going six for nine from beyond the arc while Northwest was four for 13 and had seven turnovers. The Bearcats turned the ball over only three times in the second half.

“In the second half, we just knew we had to play Bearcat basketball,” Ndow said.

— Northwest Athletics —