JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri – Senior forward Ryan Hawkins’s putback with one second left lifted the No. 3-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team to a 76-74 road victory over the Lincoln University Blue Tigers at Jason Gymnasium.
Northwest (11-1 overall) won its sixth straight game and improved its road win streak to 13 in a row. Northwest is tied with Valdosta State for the nation’s longest active road winning streak.
Junior Trevor Hudgins led the Bearcats in scoring with 20 points. Hudgins drained 10-of-12 free throws and grabbed five rebounds to go along with four assists and a pair of steals.
Hawkins tallied his second straight double-double and 23rd of his career with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Hawkins was limited to two points in the opening half as he was hampered by foul trouble.
Sophomore Wes Dreamer collected his second career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. With the contest tied at 74-74, Dreamer grabbed his 10th board on a miss by Lincoln’s Quinton Drayton with :07 left in the game.
The Bearcats led nearly the entire first half only to see the Blue Tigers take their first lead of the game with 1:19 to play in the half on a bucket from Sai Witt. Bearcat senior Daric Laing picked the right time to score his first points of the season. Laing collected a missed shot and scored a layup with 23 seconds left in the half to tie the game at 32-32. Witt would make two free throws with 2.5 left to give Lincoln a 34-32 edge at the break.
Northwest retook the lead in the second half on a pair of baskets from Dreamer. Dreamer’s second bucket of the second half gave Northwest a 37-36 lead with 17:09 to play.
The Bearcats seemingly took control of the game with a 10-0 run that turned a 51-51 tie into a 61-51 edge for the road squad. The run contained buckets from Hudgins, Hawkins and Dreamer.
Northwest’s last 10-point lead of the contest came with 7:15 to play after Hudgins drained a pair of free throws.
The Blue Tigers countered with a 19-7 spurt to give the home team a 74-72 lead with 24 seconds left in the contest. Hudgins was fouled with 16.6 left and he sank both free throws to knot it back up at 74-74.
Following a Lincoln timeout with 14.4 left, the Blue Tigers’s Quinton Drayton missed a potential go-ahead shot with :07 remaining and the shot was corralled by Dreamer.
Hudgins moved the ball down the floor and missed a shot from the right side, only to see Hawkins collect the rebound and put it in for the game-winner with exactly one second left in the clock.
Lincoln inbounded after timeouts from both squads but were unable to get a look at the basket and Northwest claimed the two-point victory.
Northwest will return to action at 3 p.m. Saturday at Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Missouri.
NOTES: Northwest has won 14 straight matchup vs. Lincoln … Northwest was on 30 of the last 32 matchups with Lincoln … Northwest leads the all-time series vs. Lincoln, 54-30 … Northwest remains in first place in the MIAA standings … Northwest is 6-0 on the road this season … Northwest has gone 44-4 on the road over the past four-plus seasons in MIAA play … Northwest is 80-2 over the past three seasons … Northwest is 110-9 in its last 119 MIAA games … since Feb. 22, 2018, Northwest has won 60 of its last 62 games vs. MIAA opponents … Hudgins earned his 44th career 20-point scoring game … Hawkins moved to No. 4 on Northwest’s all-time rebounds list with 785 career rebounds … Hawkins surpassed Joe Hurst’s 777 total from 1983-1986 … Hawkins moved to No. 3 on the Northwest career steals with 189 by edging past Mark Yager’s total of 188 from 1979-1982.
