<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613710804752.jpeg" alt="Ryan Hawkins (33) led the No. 3 Northwest Missouri State men's basketball team to victory Thursday at Emporia State. Photo courtesy of BearcatSports.com." />
 <figcaption>Ryan Hawkins (33) led the No. 3 Northwest Missouri State men's basketball team to victory Thursday at Emporia State. Photo courtesy of BearcatSports.com.</figcaption>
 </figure>By TOMMY REZACSt. Joseph Post&nbsp;The Northwest Missouri State men's basketball team produced its 13th straight win and ended up with its eighth consecutive MIAA regular season title Thursday.Benefiting from Washburn's loss to Missouri Western, No. 3 Northwest (18-1) prevailed&nbsp;in a 69-62 victory over Emporia State at White Auditorium. Northwest has now beat the Hornets in each of the last eight matchups between the two programs. The Bearcats were led by Ryan Hawkins, who scored a game-high 34 points. He secured his 25th&nbsp;career double-double with 10 rebounds. The game was tied at 54-54 with five minutes to play, but the Bearcats closed the game on a 15-8 run to secure the road win.Women's gameThe Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team lost 69-58 at Emporia State Thursday, dropping the Bearcats' record to 7-11. The game was close throughout, but the Hornets finished on a 9-2 run to secure the victory. Emporia State also scored 20 points off of Northwest turnovers. Jaelyn Haggard led the Bearcats with 15 points off of five made three-pointers. Caely Kesten chipped in 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point land. Mia Stillman tied her career-high with 11 points Both Northwest teams will stay in Kansas, and head to Topeka to face Washburn on Saturday.The women's game will start at 1 p.m. with the men to follow at 3.

Northwest Missouri State men's basketball clinches share of MIAA title with win over Emporia State