Story Headlines- The Northwest Missouri State men's basketball team fell to Minnesota State-Moorhead, 75-66, on Friday evening in Bearcat Arena.
- The game was the season opener for both squads.
- Northwest hit 10 three pointers and had four players in double figures.
- The game was played in front of 1,233 fans.
Northwest Headlines- Northwest trailed 26-23 at halftime and were outscored 49-43 in the second half.
- The Bearcats rebounded from a poor first half shooting (9-for-36, 25 percent) to finish 22-for-70 from the field, 31.4 percent.
- From beyond the arc, Northwest was 10-for-24 (41.7 percent). The Bearcats also hit 12-of-16 free throws (75 percent).
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Justin Pitts, making his Northwest debut, led all scorers with 15 points. He was 5-of-13 from the field with a pair of three pointers. He had three assists and a block.
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Zach Schneider had 12 points, coming on four three pointers. He also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
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Grant Cozad had 12 points and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. He had one of Northwest's two blocks.
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Conner Crooker scored 10 points with two steals and four rebounds.
- The Bearcats had just four turnovers to the Dragons' 11. Northwest scored 10 points off turnovers and held a 15-9 advantage in second chance points.
Key Sequence- Early in the second half, Northwest trailed 39-32 after an Aaron Lien layup for the Dragons. On the ensuing posession,
Anthony Woods found
Zach Schneider for an open three. Moorhead missed a three on the other end and this time Crooker found Schneider for another three to cut the lead to 39-38. A few posessions later with the Dragons up, 44-40, Woods again found Schneider for his third triple in just under 90 seconds to bring the Bearcats to within one at 44-43. Northwest would take the lead a couple minutes later on a pair of Cozad free throws.
Up Next- Northwest will host Upper Iowa on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 5 p.m. Admission for the game is free following the Bearcat football game against Washburn at 1 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Fort Hays State will play MSU-Moorhead tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
