By David Boyce

BOLIVAR, Mo. – In order for Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team to play in the biggest MIAA game of the conference season, the Bearcats had to go on the road and take care of business. And they did in impressive fashion.

Northwest led wire-to-wire, beating Southwest Baptist 72-54 Thursday evening at Meyer Sports Center for its eighth straight victory.

The MIAA showdown is now set. Bearcat Arena should be rocking 3:30 p.m. Saturday when Northwest, 21-5 and 14-4 in the MIAA, takes on Central Missouri, 23-4 and 14-4, in the battle for the MIAA regular-season crown.

The Mules are the second hottest team in the conference. They have won seven straight games.

“This is why we play the game,” said Conner Crooker, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “We have been building up to this game all season long. It just happens to be our rival team. It is going to be a big one.”

On Saturday, Northwest will definitely need to bring the same intensity and quality of basketball that it used to lead from start to finish against Baptist.

Coming into this game, the Bearcats knew they had to be ready to play. On Jan. 14, Northwest needed overtime to beat Baptist 77-73 in Bearcat Arena.

“It was definitely a big deal to be focused the whole game because the last time we played them was overtime,” Crooker said. “We weren’t going to come in here and lose it and let Central get away with the championship.”

The Bearcats were in such control in the second half that it gave up an 11-0 run to Baptist and still led 50-40. But it was a critical juncture for Northwest. Baptist had the ball and fired up a three-pointer that could have trimmed Northwest’s lead to seven.

The ball didn’t go in. Northwest then snatched away momentum from Baptist even with center Grant Cozad and point guard Justin Pitts saddled with four fouls.

“Anytime someone is in foul trouble and I have to come in, I try to play hard and play my role and help the team,” said sophomore Anthony Woods.

Teamwork is what has made the Bearcats so good all season. A three-point play by Woods ended Baptist’s run and gave Northwest a 13-point cushion.

“It was real big,” Woods said. “We needed that. It is always big to get a three. Anytime we get a three or anything to change momentum, we like it. We get back on defense and play hard.”

On the next possession, Zach Schneider drilled a three-pointer, and in less than a minute, Northwest held a comfortable 56-40 lead. Baptist never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

“We played really good defense,” Woods said. “Our focus was there. We played mentally tough and boxed out well. I feel we prepared well in practice, too.”

Offensively, Northwest was draining three-pointers. Crooker knocked down five three-pointers, Schneider had four and Pitts finished with three.

“It is always nice to know we can click whenever on offense and we can get a big run,” Crooker said.

Northwest opened the game with a three-pointer by Schneider and went into halftime ahead 35-23.

In the first 4 minutes, three different players scored for Northwest and that diverse scoring allowed the Bearcats to build a 10-2 lead.

Baptist made a brief spurt and closed to 12-9. Northwest answered with a 12-0 run that pushed the lead to 24-9.

By playing well on both ends of the court, Northwest maintained a double-digit lead the last 10 minutes of the first half. Northwest shot 48 percent from the field in the first half and held Baptist to 32 percent.

— Northwest Sports Information —

By David Boyce

BOLIVAR, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team dug itself a big hole and never climbed out of it Thursday evening at Southwest Baptist.

Because of a 67-47 loss, Northwest, 8-19 overall and 4-14 in the MIAA, needs to win at home on Saturday against Central Missouri to advance to the conference tournament.

“I want to see a little dignity, a little pride,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said of the final regular season game. “We kind of lost that a little bit. I don’t know what has happened the past few games.”

Both teams entered Thursday’s game needing a victory to extend its season beyond the regular season. Baptist played with that type of desperation, hustling up and down the court.

Northwest struggled to get into an offensive flow the entire game. The green Bearcats scored 24 points in the first half and then gave up the first five points in the second half for a 45-24 deficit.

Northwest didn’t score its 45th point until 1:46 left in the game and by that time, Baptist held a 65-45 lead.

“You are going to have games where you are not going to make a lot of shots, but there is no excuse for putting on a Northwest uniform and not playing with pride and passion,” Smith said.

“The paw always means pride to me. I feel like we haven’t done a good job of representing that of late. We had opportunity tonight and we let one get away.”

The good news is Northwest still has an opportunity to make the conference tournament. But the green Bearcats will have to turn in one of their best performances of the season against Central.

“We got a chance,” Smith said. “We have to win the last game of the season at home against one of the hottest teams in the league. I hope our kids understand that we are not only playing for ourselves, our community, but for our three seniors. We are going to honor them before the game.”

Northwest, though, should have some confidence. Northwest beat Central 61-60 in Warrensburg on Jan. 17.

In a must-win situation, Northwest came out cold and it didn’t help that the purple Bearcats were doing a great impression of the Showtime Lakers in the first half. Baptist scored numerous fast break baskets on the way to a 40-24 halftime lead.

Northwest held a 4-1 lead a couple of minutes into the game and then it went bad for the green Bearcats. They gave up the next eight points for a 9-4 deficit. Northwest never got on track after the Baptist’s run.

By the midway point, Northwest was down 22-10 and then it grew to 33-17. The only player to have success offensively was freshman Tanya Meyer, who went 4-for-7 from the field and scored 10 points. Nobody else scored consistently for the green Bearcats, who were 9-for-29 from the field for 31 percent.

Northwest struggled just as much on defense, allowing Baptist to go 15-for-28 from the field for 54 percent.

— Northwest Sports Information —