Box Score

MARYVILLE, Mo.-Northwest Missouri State junior guard Shaneel Narayan hit the first five shots he took and finished with 20 points to lead the Bearcats to an 87-63 win against Baker Tuesday night at Bearcat Arena.

Elijah Allen added 17 points and seven rebounds for Northwest, which improved to 2-1. The Bearcats get a chance to avenge their lone loss with a road contest at Southwest Minnesota State (2-1) Saturday in Marshall, Minn. It''s the first of a five-game road trip for Northwest.

Andre Strozier scored a game-high 25 points to pace the Wildcats on 11-of-16 shooting. It was an exhibition contest for Baker, an NAIA school from Baldwin City, Kan.

Narayan scored 12 first-half points to help the Bearcats take a 52-28 lead into halftime. Northwest shot 57 percent form the field in the opening frame and 54 percent for the game. The Bearcats also scored 31 points off 25 Baker turnovers.

Northwest went on a 23-2 run during a four-minute span midway through the first half to open up a 40-15 lead. Kyle Haake, Narayan and Tyler Funk each knocked down three''s during that span for Northwest. The Bearcats finished 8-for-19 from behind the arc.

Both point guards filled the stat sheet. Jaris Wommack scored 13 points and had nine assists for Baker. DeShaun Cooper scored nine points and dished out eight assists for Northwest.