TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The three-point bug that hit sophomore Zach Schneider two days ago, spread to some of his Northwest Missouri State teammates Monday evening. Northeastern State certainly didn’t have a cure for it.

While not a fan of using youth culture slang, the way Northwest is currently shooting the three-pointer is sick.

Here is a little help for the older generation on what that means. The online slang dictionary defines sick as great, amazing, cool and awesome.

These are the superlatives needed to describe the first-half shooting performance by the Bearcats. They went 10 for 14 on three-pointers and built a 29-point halftime lead on the way to an 83-59 victory at NSU Event Center.

“We just wanted to keep the momentum rolling from our win at UCO,” said Northwest senior Grant Cozad, who finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

“We wanted to click on all cylinders and that is what happened. Zach was still hot from the three and that helped us out there.”

The win lifted Northwest to 11-2 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA. It was also the 100th career victory for Northwest coach Ben McCollum.

“The only thing it means is that I have coached a lot of good players and had some really good assistants,” McCollum said. “That is just a result of getting those quality kids in the program and getting quality coaches in this program. The 100 wins are attributed to them.”

If it was just a ho hum, pedestrian win, McCollum would have received top billing for his first significant milestone win in his young coaching career.

What the Bearcats did on the court in the first half was special. Schneider picked up where he left off Saturday with his record-breaking performance of nine three-pointers. He drilled a three-pointer early on to give Northwest a 5-2 lead.

A possession or two later, freshman Justin Pitts hit a three-pointer for an 8-4 lead.

Northeastern had its eye on Schneider, but forgot about junior Conner Crooker, who hit a corner three-pointer with 15:19 left in the first half that gave Northwest a 17-7 lead.

“We are starting games off really well,” Cozad said. “The first five minutes of the first half are big because we can build up that momentum and carry it through the game.”

The barrage of three-pointers midway through the first half was dazzling. A three-pointer by Schneider made it 20-14, and then a three-pointer by Crooker increased the lead to 23-14 and then another trey by Schneider made it 26-14.

“It was a carry over from the UCO game,” said Pitts, who finished with 20 points and five assists. “Zach was still lighting it up and I was starting to feel it a little bit. We have confidence in each other to make threes.”

The outside shooting was so remarkable that the stellar defense Northwest was playing was easy to overlook.

Northwest held the RiverHawks to 39 percent from the field in the first half. It allowed Northwest to build a 41-19 lead. Northwest’s lead grew to 53-21 late in the first half.

Schneider was four for six on three-pointers in the first half and Pitts and Crooker were each three for four beyond the arc.

“It is a pretty good feeling,” said Schneider, who finished with five three-pointers and 15 points. “You don’t have to do anything. You just let it fly and it goes in.

“I thought Conner was going to break my record at the start. I was worried I was only going to have it for one night. I feel like us three can outshoot anyone.”

It is not often a team at any level shoots 71 percent on three-pointers on more than 10 attempts.

“It is the shots that we are taking,” McCollum said. “That is the more important aspect other than the fact they are going in. We are getting shots for the shooters we want to shoot.”

With such a huge halftime lead, it would have been understandable for the Bearcats to lose some intensity in the second half. But with 14:43 left in the game, Northwest held a 63-33 lead.

Northwest wasn’t nearly as hot from the outside in the second half, but the Bearcats hard-nosed play frustrated Northeastern into getting two technical fouls.

The Bearcats were in such control that with 6:22 left and leading 77-49, McCollum was able to pull four starters and get the back-ups some minutes.

“I thought we defended well in the first half and got the looks we wanted,” McCollum said. “I still think we can play even better. There were a few lulls that happened throughout the game. It is something we will address and fix going into Thursday home game against Nebraska-Kearney.”

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team played tenacious defense in the first half. The Bearcats came out focused. They just had one glaring problem Monday evening against Northeastern State at NSU Event Center.

Once again, Northwest struggled on offense. The Bearcats made only five field goals and scored 14 points in the first half. It put them a 15-point halftime deficit.

Northwest simply didn’t have enough firepower to dig out of that hole. The Bearcats lost 59-45, but they did outscore Northeastern 31-30 in the second half.

The first couple of minutes, Northwest played well enough to win. The first points came on a well-executed play in which the ball was fed inside to sophomore center Shelby Mustain, who scored, giving the Bearcats an early 2-0 lead.

The RiverHawks scored the next four points. Northwest recaptured the lead on a three-pointer by freshman Bailey Smith.

From all appearances, Northwest looked ready to battle the RiverHawks throughout the entire first half.

But the Bearcats went ice cold. Northeastern found some offensive rhythm and went on a 17-5 run for a 21-10 lead.

In the closing minutes, Northeastern drained two more three-pointers and took a 29-14 lead into halftime.

Instead of folding, the Bearcats showed plenty of grit in the final half of a long road trip by MIAA standards.

Northwest could have easily tossed in the towel on the fourth day away from Maryville.  But a three-pointer by freshman Alexa Shaaf and field goals by Mustain and senior Ariel Easton in less than 2 minutes into the second half allowed the Bearcats to close to 29-21.

After the RiverHawks made a basket, Easton hit a three-pointer and suddenly Northwest was down seven at 31-24.

For the first 6 minutes of the second half, Northwest had its best offensive production of the season against MIAA competition. When junior Morgan Walker made a field goal at the 14:31 mark, Northwest trailed 34-28.

Unfortunately, the Bearcats could not sustain their offensive output. Northeastern went on a 15-4 run for a 49-32 lead.

Mustain finished the game with a double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down a career-best 12 rebounds. Easton added nine points and three assists.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —