MARYVILLE, Missouri – For the 17th consecutive time, the Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team walked away with a victory over the Missouri Western State University Griffons on the hardwood.
Northwest (14-1 overall) rallied from a 37-30 halftime deficit and posted a 70-64 triumph at Bearcat Arena. Northwest outscored Missouri Western in the second half, 40-27.
Northwest is in the midst of a nine-game win streak. The Griffons lost for the 12th straight time in Bearcat Arena and fell to 8-5 on the season.
Northwest’s Ryan Hawkins pocketed a game-high 18 points and tied for game-high honors in rebounds with nine. Trevor Hudgins battled foul trouble but was able to contribute 14 points, five rebounds and three assists despite playing only 31 minutes in the contest. Diego Bernard came up with 12 points, nine rebounds and three assists, while Wes Dreamer tallied 13 points and five boards.
The Bearcats opened up a 13-9 only to see the Griffons go on an 8-0 run to take a 17-13 lead with 11:24 to play in the first half. Northwest retook the lead 22-21 on a pair of free throws from Dreamer. However, the Griffons would respond and took a 37-28 lead with just under a minute to play in the half. Redshirt freshman Mitch Mascari buried a pair of free throws to take the game to the half with the Griffons on top, 37-30.
Northwest started the second half strong with a 13-5 run to secure a 43-42 lead with 14:36 to play in the game. The Griffons retook the lead at 45-43 on an Alex John bucket and free throw on the ensuing Griffon possession. The Bearcats countered with a 10-0 spurt and took an eight-point lead at 53-45. The run was capped by a triple from Hawkins with 10:47 remaining. MWSU’s Caleb Bennett gave the Griffons their final lead of the game at 60-59 with 3:35 to play.
Bernard beat the shot clock with a drive to the hoop and scored a layup with 2:50 remaining to put the Bearcats back on top, 61-60. MWSU’s Will Eames made only one of two at the line to even it back up at 61-61. A Dreamer triple from the left wing with 1:44 left put the Bearcats on top for good. Bernard added a pair of free throws and Hudgins sank four from the line in the final minute as the Bearcats captured the six-point victory, 70-64.
The Bearcats stay at home to take on the Pittsburg State Gorillas at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
NOTES: Northwest’s 19 turnovers are the most for the Bearcats since turning it over 20 times vs. Central Missouri on March 10, 2013 … Northwest made 19-of-20 free throws, while Missouri Western made 11-of-19 at the free throw line … Northwest owns a 58-35 lead in the all-time series vs. Missouri Western … head coach Ben McCollum improved to 23-2 vs. the Griffons … since the start of the 2011-12 season, Northwest has compiled a record of 131-10 in Bearcat Arena … Northwest has won 60 of its last 62 home MIAA games … Northwest has posted a mark of 83-2 over the past three seasons … Northwest is 145-7 over the past five seasons … in its last 122 MIAA games, Northwest is 113-9 (in that stretch, Northwest is 59-2 in Bearcat Arena) … Hawkins ranks No. 3 on Northwest’s all-time rebounding list with 809 career boards, as he moved past Hunter Henry’s total of 808 rebounds from 2006-09) … Hawkins moved up to No. 4 on the Northwest’s all-time scoring list (1,738 points) as he surpassed Scott Fleming’s total of 1,727 points from 1999-2003 … Bernard moved to No. 25 on the Bearcat scoring chart (1,059 points) as he moved past Rick Jolley’s career total of 1,054 points from 1993-96.
