Northwest Missouri State Athletics

The 2003-2004 Bearcats men’s basketball team began the season on a roll led by Head Coach Steve Tappmeyer and assistants Darren Vorderbruegge and Skip Shear. With an average margin of victory of just over 15 points, they raced out to a 13-0 start and on January 13 they were ranked #1 in the nation for the first time in school history.  After losing twice in the regular season to highly ranked Washburn, the Bearcats got their revenge when it mattered most against the Ichabods.  First was a victory for the MIAA Tournament Title in Kansas City and then one week later ended their MIAA rival’s season in a second round, grind-it-out game of the NCAA Tournament in Stephenville, Texas. 
 
Following the Washburn win, Northwest faced Drury University in the South Central Regional Title Game.  With the game tied at 59, Bearcat senior & Division II All American Kelvin Parker found the gut of the Panther defense and kicked out a pass to Bearcat junior Jesse Shaw who promptly hit one of the biggest shots in Northwest history to give the Cats’ a 62-59 win & a trip to the Division II Elite Eight.
 
The Cats’ would eventually fall to Southern Indiana in Bakersfield, CA but the memories of a record tying 29 win season are still talked about today amongst fans, former players and staff.  The 2003-2004 season provided Northwest Basketball its third MIAA Tournament title overall and second NCAA Regional Championship in 3 years.