ST. JOSEPH - The Missouri Western men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season at home as they fell to No. 1 Northwest Missouri State 92-69 Tuesday inside the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Griffons drop to 16-13 and 12-6 in the MIAA, while the Bearcats have won 19 straight this season and 16 in-a-row against MWSU. Northwest improves to 27-1 and 17-1 in league play.
The two teams were trading baskets early in front of an MWSU Fieldhouse-record crowd of 4,256 fans. Missouri Western's last lead came with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. The Griffons were up by three before Northwest went on an 18-6 run to build a nine-point lead. The MIAA champions then got hot and led by as many as 20 before taking a 44-26 lead to halftime. It didn't get much better for the Griffons in the second half when Northwest shot 69.6% from the field, building its largest lead of 31 points with 4:15 left.
NOTABLES
- It was the first loss in the MWSU Fieldhouse for the Griffons this season.
- MWSU will take an 11-1 home record into the regular season finale this Saturday against Washburn.
- Already without starter Will Eames due to an injury, Tyrell Carroll picked up two quick fouls and played just 9:23 in the first half
- Northwest went 6 of 9 from 3-point range in the first half and went 8 for 9 at the foul line before halftime
- In the game, the Bearcats took 22 free throws and made 20 of them, while the Griffons went 8 for 10 on the night at the line
- MWSU went 7 of 29 from 3-point range with five of those makes coming in the second half
- Missouri Western scored 43 of its 69 points in the second half
- Beau Baker scored 10 first-half points on 5 of 8 shooting, but was held scoreless in the second half
- Reese Glover led MWSU with 18 points on 7 of 12 shooting, 4 of 8 from long range
- Carroll ended up with 14 points, 12 in the second half to go with a team-high seven rebounds and four assists
- The Griffons blocked five Bearcat shots on the night, two by Baker
UP NEXT
The Griffons end the regular season on Saturday against Washburn at 3:30 p.m.
--- MWSU Athletics ---