---

Story Headlines
- The Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball team defeated Missouri Western, 66-60, on Saturday afternoon at the MWSU Fieldhouse in St. Joseph, Mo.
- Northwest moves to 10-4 on the year and 7-2 in MIAA play. The Griffons fall to 5-10 overall and 3-6 in conference action.
- Justin Pitts scored a game-high 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting. He tied a career-high with seven rebounds.
- The Bearcats scored eight of the game's final 10 points to secure the road win. Missouri Western led by five early in the second half.
- Northwest led at halftime, 28-26.
 
Key Northwest Statistics
- Pitts reached double digits for the 14th time this season and surpassed 20 points for the eight time this year.  He also recorded three steals, giving him eight multi-steal games on the year.
- Chris-Ebou Ndow scored the contest's first five points and ended the night with seven points and three rebounds.
- Anthony Woods played 30 minutes, grabbing six rebounds while adding nine points off the bench.
- Brett Dougherty had seven points with five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
- The Bearcats shot 44 percent from the field (22-of-50) for the game while holding the Griffons to just 14-of-43 shooting (32.6 percent). Missouri Western was just 1-of-14 (7.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
- The game featured 46 fouls, 23 for each side. It was the second highest foul total for Northwest on the year.
- Northwest was 18-of-26 from the free throw line (69.2 percent) while the Griffons went 31-for-38 (81.6 percent).
 
Key Northwest Sequences
- Northwest went on a 9-0 run early in the first half. Pitts hit a layup with 15:12 and 40 seconds later, D'Vante Mosby cleaned up an offensive rebound for a putback to make it 11-4. Neither team would score for next two minutes but Ndow found the bottom of the net on a layup off a pass from Dougherty with 12:02 left to make it 13-4. On the very next possession, Woods came up with a steal and Pitts knocked down a three to give Northwest its largest lead of the first half, 16-4.
 
- Down by five early in the second half, 33-28, Northwest responded with a 10-1 run over the next two-plus minutes. Schneider started the run with a three pointer to make it 33-31. Crooker followed it up with a layup to tie it, 33-33. After a Griffon free throw, Dougherty hit a jumper from the baseline to make it 35-34 Bearcats. The next possession down, Crooker came up with a steal and Schneider found Pitts wide open beyond the arc to put Northwest up 38-34 with 15:55 remaining, forcing a Griffon timeout.
 
Up Next
- The Bearcats head to Emporia State on Wednesday, Jan. 13, for a 7:30 p.m. MIAA contest against the Hornets.