MARYVILLE, Missouri – The No. 3-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team won its 10th straight game with an 87-75 home victory over the Pittsburg State University Gorillas.
The Bearcats (16-1 overall) used a late 12-4 run to put some distance between the Gorillas to secure the triumph.
Northwest’s offensive attack was led by Trevor Hudgins, who poured in his sixth career 30-point game, and Ryan Hawkins, who added 22 points, seven steals, six rebounds and five assists.
Northwest built an early 12-3 advantage as Hawkins scored eight points in the opening five minutes. The Gorillas countered with a 11-2 run to even the contest at 14-14. PSU took a four-point lead at 29-25 with 6:50 to play in the opening half. The Bearcats used a 16-2 run capped by a Diego Bernard dunk that gave the home squad a double-digit lead at 41-31 with 2:35 to play. However, the Gorillas locked in and closed the half on a 8-3 run to trim the Bearcat halftime lead to 44-39.
PSU’s Martin Vogts nailed a three-pointer to open the second half to get the Gorillas to within 44-42. Northwest extended the margin back to 10 at 57-47 on a layup from Hudgins with 16:10 to play in the game. Northwest would eventually push the lead to 15 on a triple of Hudgins with 10:32 remaining. However, the Gorillas would not go away quietly and snuck back into the contest. PSU cut Northwest’s lead to four at 75-71 following a three-point play from Ethan Holloway with 4:09 to play in the game.
The Bearcats then put away the Gorillas for good with a 10-0 spurt that included a tip-in by Bernard to help secure the 87-75 triumph.
Northwest will return to Bearcat Arena at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against the visiting Missouri Southern Lions. Missouri Southern scored a 103-94 win over Missouri Western in St. Joseph on Thursday night. Northwest will honor its women’s and men’s basketball seniors on Saturday between two contests.
NOTES: Northwest shot 58.9% from the field (33-of-56), including 65.4% in the opening half (17-of-26) … PSU shot 58.0% for the game (29-of-50), including 69.6% in the first half (16-of-23) … Northwest won the rebounding battle, 34-18 … Northwest drained 10 three-pointers, while PSU made nine from distance … Northwest has won 12 straight matchups against Pittsburg State … Northwest leads the all-time series with Pittsburg State, 70-63 … Northwest has swept the season series vs. Pittsburg State in seven straight seasons … the Gorillas are 0-13 in their last 13 trips to Maryville … since the start of the 2011-12 season, Northwest is 132-10 at home (which includes a tally of 87-8 in MIAA games) … Northwest has won 61 of its last 63 home MIAA contests … overall, Northwest has won 64 of its last 66 games against MIAA opponents (regular season and postseason) … Northwest is 85-2 over the last three seasons … Northwest is 147-7 over the last five seasons … Northwest is 115-9 in its last 124 MIAA games (dating back to Jan. 14, 2015) — in that stretch, Northwest is 60-2 in Bearcat Arena against MIAA foes … Hudgins reached double figures for the 80th time in his career … it’s Hudgins’s 45th 20-point scoring and sixth career 30-point game … Hawkins earned his 36th career 20-point scoring game … Hawkins has scored in double figures in 78 career games … Bernard tallied his 65th career double-figure scoring game … Bernard captured seven rebounds in the game and sits at 499 career rebounds … with his next rebound, Bernard will become the 14th Bearcat to have 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds … Hawkins moved within one point of No. 2 on Northwest’s all-time scoring list with 1,794 career points as Vic Coleman tallied 1,795 points from 1980-84 … Hawkins has 828 career rebounds and needs only 46 more to equal Northwest’s all-time rebound mark of 874 set by Don Sears from 1966-70 … Hawkins added a career-high seven steals to give him 199 in his Bearcat career … Hawkins moved to No. 3 on Northwest’s all-time field goals made list with 646 – surpassing David Alvey’s total of 644 from 1974-77 … the matchup featured a top-10 matchup of coaching victories in the MIAA … Kim Anderson has tallied 329 MIAA wins to rank No. 6 in league history … Ben McCollum secured his 288th career victory, which ranks No. 9 in MIAA history.
