EDMOND, Oklahoma – The No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball team turned it up a notch in the final seven minutes to grind out an 84-79 victory at the University of Central Oklahoma in Hamilton Fieldhouse.
UCO had a chance to tie in the closing seconds but a three-pointer from the Bronchos's Cooper Clark rimmed out to give the Bearcats the road victory.
Northwest reached the 20-win mark for the ninth straight season in improving to 20-1 overall and 10-1 in MIAA play. The Bronchos fell 7-15 overall and 4-9 in league action.
Central Oklahoma led for 16:13 of the first half and posted a 36-34 lead at the break. The Bronchos knocked in 6-of-9 three-pointers led by Carson Calavan who drained all five of his three-point attempts.
A Ryan Welty three-pointer followed by a steal by Ryan Hawkins that led to a Trevor Hudgins layup turned a one-point deficit into a 62-58 lead with 6:38 to play. Hawkins added a putback to push the margin to six at 64-58 and complete a 7-0 Bearcat run.
Hudgins buried a triple with 3:42 to play put the Bearcats up six, 71-65. Luke Waters hit a triple out of the corner with 3:05 to Northwest up seven, 74-67. A Hawkins steal and Welty cleaned up a Diego Bernard missed layup for a bucket to give Northwest a 76-67 cushion.
Northwest will return home for a pair of contests against Central Missouri (Thursday, 7:30 p.m.) and Lincoln (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.).
NOTES: It was the third time this season that Northwest trailed at the half and the Bearcats have won all three contests … it was Northwest's 12th straight victory … Hudgins notched his 12th 20-point scoring game this season as he led the way with 28 points … Hawkins added 17 points, 13 in the second half and eight rebounds … Bernard had 16 points and knocked in both of his three-point attempts … Tyler Dougherty tied for team-high honors with eight rebounds … UCO led for 24:00, while Northwest held the lead for 11:45 … Northwest has gone 31-4 on the road in MIAA games of the last four-plus seasons.
--- Northwest Athletics ---