Feb 23, 2020

No. 1 Bearcats use big second half to rally past Pitt State 73-64

Posted Feb 23, 2020 5:02 AM

MARYVILLE, Missouri - The No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri State men's basketball team found itself in a halftime hole for only the fourth time this season but used a strong final 20 minutes to score a 73-64 triumph over the visiting Pittsburg State Gorillas.

Northwest (26-1 overall, 16-1 MIAA) trailed 30-26 at the half as Pittsburg State (9-17 overall, 5-12 MIAA) held the Bearcats to 32% shooting from the field. The Bearcats turned it around in the second half and hit on 56.7% of their shots (17-of-30 FGs). Northwest enjoyed a 47-34 scoring advantage in the second half.

Junior forward Ryan Hawkins posted a game-high 25 points and redshirt freshman guard Trevor Hudgins scored all 16 of his points in the second half. Sophomore guard Diego Bernard produced his third double-double this season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Gorillas did not trail in the first half after jumping out to a 10-2 lead over the Bearcats. Hawkins hit Northwest's only three-pointer of the first half with 12:58 to play that cut the Gorillas lead to 16-13. Northwest was 1-of-10 from three-point range in the opening stanza. The Gorillas pushed the lead back to seven at 22-15 following a bucket in the paint from Antonio Givens II with 7:29 left. Senior Ryan Welty's bucket with 3:57 left pulled Northwest to within one at 24-23. Pittsburg State would score the next five to push it back to 29-23 advantage before eventually taking a 29-23 lead to the locker rooms.

Hudgins drove the lane for a layup for his first points of the game with 17:10 left as Northwest took its first lead of the game at 35-34. The Bearcats would not trail again. Northwest used a 13-3 spurt to turn a 37-36 lead into a 50-39 advantage with 9:21 left when redshirt freshman Luke Waters scored two of his eight points. Hudgins knocked in a three-pointer with 3:33 to play to give Northwest a 13-point lead at 63-50. The Gorillas would climb as close as seven at 65-58 with 1:06 to go before Hawkins slammed home a dunk with :46.0 left in the contest. Gorilla head coach Kim Anderson picked up a technical foul with :41.8 left to the delight of the 2,033 in attendance in Bearcat Arena.

Northwest will travel to Missouri Western on Tuesday. The Bearcats and Griffons will tip at 7:30 p.m. at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

NOTES: Northwest extended its overall win streak to 18 in a row ... Northwest moved its home-court win streak to 32 in a row ... Northwest has won 68 of its last 70 home games in Bearcat Arena ... the Bearcats have won 49 of their last 50 home MIAA games ... senior Tyler Dougherty and Ryan Welty tallied their 126th career victory moving within one of the record of 127 set by Dray Starzl last season ... Northwest has defeated Pittsburg State 10 straight times overall ... Northwest has defeated Pittsburg State 12 consecutive times in Bearcat Arena ... Northwest won the rebounding battle, 35-26 ... Northwest made eight turnovers to 12 for Pittsburg State ... for the first time in nine games, Northwest did not hit 10 or more three-pointers as the Bearcats hit only 5-of-20 from deep against the Gorillas.

--- Northwest Athletics ---