MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Missouri Wesern men's basketball team made it interesting, but fell 65-56 at No. 2 Northwest Missouri State on Saturday afternoon. MWSU (7-11, 3-4) played the Bearcats (16-1, 6-1) as close as any MIAA team has, but couldn't close the gap after a Northwest run in the first half.The Griffons led 9-4 early in the game, but a 9-0 Northwest run gave the Bearcats their first lead of the game. Missouri Western chipped away to go back on top 19-15 with 6:59 left in the first, but Northwest answered with a 16-4 run to take their largest lead of the game. The Griffons never led again. Overall, the game featured three lead changes, all in the first minutes. Northwest never led by more than 13 points.NOTABLES- Trevor Hudgins was the only Bearcat in double figures, scoring 31 points on 11 of 18 shooting from the field and 6 of 9 shooting from behind the arc. He scored 21 of Northwest's 31 first half points.- Missouri Western pulled down 11 more rebounds than the Bearcats (37-26).- Northwest made one more field goal (22) than the Griffons on two fewer attempts and made two more 3-point attempts than the Griffons on the same amount of attempts (20).- Tyrell Carroll scored all 20 of his points in the second half to go with three steals and two assists. He sat out a good portion of the first half after picking up two quick fouls.- Tyus Millhollin scored 15 first half points and ended the game with 18.- JaRon Thames had a team-high eight rebounds.UP NEXTMissouri Western returns to the MWSU Fieldhouse on Thursday, Jan. 23 to host Fort Hays State (7-8, 1-6).--- MWSU Athletics ---

Griffons' upset bid comes up short at No. 2 Bearcats 65-56