MARYVILLE, Missouri - The No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri State University Bearcat men's basketball team secured a 69-61 senior night victory over the visiting Washburn University Ichabods.
Northwest won its 20th consecutive game overall and 33rd straight in Bearcat Arena on a night when it shot 40.0% from the floor. The Bearcats moved their season mark to 28-1 and 18-1 in MIAA play, while the Ichabods fell to 16-11 overall and 11-7 in league action.
Senior Ryan Hawkins collected her 20th career double-double with game highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds. It was Hawkins 24th career 20-point scoring game as a Bearcat. Hawkins was a perfect 9-of-9 at the foul line and was credited with five steals.
Sophomore Diego Bernard tallied 16 points and six rebounds. Bernard went 7-of-12 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range.
Freshmen Wes Dreamer came up big off the bench as he contributed with 13 points and four rebounds.
Sophomore Trevor Hudgins was held to single-digit scoring for the first time in 11 games, but was able to amass 12 assists and no turnovers as he played all 40 minutes. Hudgins grabbed four rebounds and notched three steals.
Northwest bounced out to a 13-6 lead with the help of two three-pointers from Hawkins. However, after that three from Hawkins, Washburn went on a 29-10 run and opened up a 12-point advantage at 35-23. Northwest managed only two made field goals in the final seven and a half minutes of the first half. The Ichabods became the fifth team to lead the Bearcats at the half this season by the count of 35-26.
A Bernard dunk ignited the 2,012 fans in Bearcat Arena with 14:53 to play as it pulled Northwest to within 40-37. Northwest eventually took its first lead of the second half on a Dreamer triple from the top of the key with 10:00 to play in the game. Hudgins only basket of the game was a three-pointer that put Northwest on top 55-52 with 7:50 on the clock. Hudgins would knot the score at 59-59 with 3:39 to play after he sank a pair of free throws.
The Bearcats took the lead for good at 62-59 on a conventional three-point play from Hawkins with 2:55 left. Washburn's Drew Maschoff scored on a layup to trim the Bearcat lead to 64-61 with :54.6 to play. Hawkins answered on the other end with a post-up bucket that came with :31.7 left. Dreamer then buried 3-of-4 free throws in the final :16.6 seconds to clinch the eight-point win.
Northwest has earned the No. 1 seed for the MIAA Tournament set for March 4-8 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Northwest will play in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the No. 8-No. 9 matchup that takes place on Wednesday.
NOTES: Northwest's seniors Tyler Dougherty, Kirk Finley and Ryan Welty collected the program's 128th win over the past four seasons to set the all-time wins mark for players in the program ... the Bearcat senior class has gone 128-6 over the past four seasons ... Northwest is 66-1 over the past two seasons (38-0 in 2018-19; 28-1 in 2019-20) ... Northwest is 16-0 at home this season ... since the start of the 2011-12 season, Northwest has compiled a home record of 125-9 ... Northwest has won 50 of its last 51 home MIAA contests - a stretch that began Jan. 14, 2015 ... over the past seven seasons, Northwest is 121-15 in MIAA games ... over the past four seasons, Northwest is 71-5 in MIAA contests ... Northwest has won 11 straight matchups against Washburn ... Northwest is 5-0 when trailing at the half this season ... Northwest tied for its second-worst shooting performance of the season by hitting only 40.0% of its field goals (low - 36.5% at Central Missouri) ... after committing six first-half turnovers, Northwest turned it over only once in the second half ... Washburn won the rebounding battle, 35-33 ... Northwest tallied 10 steals - its fourth double-digit steal total this season.
--- Northwest Athletics ---