Story Highlights- The Northwest Missouri State men's basketball team picked up a 59-58 victory over Missouri Western in St. Joseph, Mo., on Wednesday evening.
- The win moves Northwest to 16-5 overall and 9-4 in MIAA play. The Griffons fall to 9-11 and 5-8 in conference action.
- The Bearcats trailed in the game for over 32 minutes of action but pulled ahead for good with 3:22 left in the second half.
- Three Northwest players reached double figures in scoring.
Northwest Key Statistics- The Bearcats shot 44.2 percent from the field for the game (23-for-52), but were 12-for-22 in the second half (54.5 percent).
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Anthony Woods scored a career-high 17 points off the bench to go along with three rebounds and a pair of assists.
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Conner Crooker had 15 points on 5-of-13Â shooting. He had four rebounds, three steals, three assists and a blocked shot. He was 3-of-5 from long range.
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Grant Cozad had 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting. He had four rebounds and three blocked shots.
- Northwest forced 18 Missouri Western turnovers and had 11 steals, led by Crooker and
Matt Wallace with three each.
- The Griffons shot 59.5 percent for the game (25-for-42) but only went to the line nine times (5-for-9).
- Missouri Western held a 29-21 advantage on the boards but Northwest grabbed nine offensive boards to the Griffons' eight.
- After going just 1-of-3 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Bearcats hit 5-of-6 long range attempts in the second.
- Missouri Western attempted just six three pointers in the game and were 0-fo-3 in the second half.
- Crooker logged 40 minutes of playing time for the fifth time this season for Northwest.
- The game was played in front of 2,265 fans.
Key Sequence- Down by four late in the second half, Northwest went on a 7-0 run to take the lead for just the second time in the game. Crooker knocked down a jumper to make it 56-54 with 4:10 left. Cozad came up with a blocked shot on the ensuing posession and
Lyle Harris knocked down a three on a pass from Wallace to make it 57-56. After a Missouri Western miss, Crooker was fouled and calmly knocked down two free throws to give the Bearcats a 59-56 lead with 2:03 remaining. Missouri Western had a chance with seven seconds remaining down, 59-58. But Northwest forced Cortez Colbert into a turnover and launched the ball down court as time expired.
Up Next- The Bearcats return home to face Lincoln University on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 3:30 p.m.
