Box Score

BOLIVAR, Mo.- Southwest Baptist guard Ryan Dougherty scored a career-high 23 points to lead the "purple" Bearcats to an 85-66 win against the "green" Bearcats of Northwest Missouri State Tuesday at the Meyer Sports Complex.

Northwest''s third straight loss means the team no longer controls its own destiny in terms of securing a berth in next week''s MIAA tournament. The Bearcats (12-14, 7-12 MIAA) must beat Missouri Southern at home in Maryville Saturday and have either Emporia State beat Washburn tomorrow night, or have Emporia State lose to Washburn and Fort Hays State Saturday.

Dougherty, who entered the contest averaging nine points, made 8-of-12 field goals including six 3-pointers. Southwest Baptist (20-9, 11-8) made 11 treys to end a four-game skid while Northwest had one 3-pointer before making two in the final 11 seconds. The green Bearcats have made seven 3''s during their three-game slide.

Maciej Ustarbowski scored a season-high 16 points, but picked up his fourth foul with 10 minutes to play and was held scoreless the rest of the way. Girod Adams also had 16 points for Northwest. Forward Elijah Allen saw a string of 15 consecutive games with 15 or more points come to an end after scoring all eight of his points in the second half.

Northwest outrebounded Southwest Baptist 35-27 and had a better shooting percentage than its counterpart, but committed 21 turnovers - the team''s second-highest total this season.

Southwest Baptist played without All-American center Matt Rogers (knee injury) for the seventh straight game but received 16 points from Stephen Cotton, 13 from Kurtis Koenig and 10 from Tristan Steele. Southwest Baptist took a 39-25 lead into halftime and led by at least eight points the rest of the way.