By MATT PIKE
The Missouri Western State men's basketball team saw its season come to an end in the NCAA Central Region tournament with an 83-65 loss to #4 seed St. Cloud State at Lee Arena in Topeka.
The Huskies, who are 19-1 since January 1st, got off to a 10-2 start and never looked back. St. Cloud State led by as many as 19 points in the first half, but the Griffons were able to cut the deficit to 39-24 at the halftime break. MoWest found some energy to start the second half as Marko Pavlovic scored the first field goal on a quick layup, but the Huskies then went on a 13-4 run, and maintained its advantage.
The largest deficit for the Griffs was 59-33 with 13:25 to go. St. Cloud State shot lights out from beyond the arc, knocking down 15-of-28 from long range, including eight of their first nine attempts in the second half. On the other hand, MoWest could not keep up from deep, making five of their 17 attempts.
Pavlovic led MoWest in scoring with 21 points. Bode Goodman came off the bench for 16 points. Ty Henry scored nine points for the Griffons. In their final games for MoWest, Noah King had just three points, shooting just 1-for-8, and Devin Butler had seven points in 11 minutes. It was also Henry's final game with the Griffons MoWest was outrebounded 43-25, but did outscore the Huskies in the paint 38-22.
The Griffons end a strong first season under head coach Brooks McKowen with just its third NCAA tournament bid in the last 16 years, and its first 20-win season since 2002-03. MoWest finishes the season 21-12 and 12-7 in the MIAA.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.