LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball team moved its season mark to 2-0 with an 88-75 triumph over the Flagler College Saints at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic.
 
Sophomore guard Isaiah Jackson notched his first career 20-point scoring game. Jackson knocked in 6-of-8 from three-point land in the contest and set a new career-high with 26 points. Jackson came into the contest with a career-high of 13 points and had made two career three-point shots.
 
Flagler cut a 23-point second-half deficit to single digits in the final eight minutes setting the stage for Jackson to take control. Jackson carried the offensive load by scoring Northwest's final 15 points of the game.
 
Jackson scored 11 points in the first 10 ½ minutes of the game. Jackson buried his first three 3-point shots in the first half. Jackson went 9-of-13 from the field. He also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out two assists and was credited with a steal.
 
Diego Bernard secured his 12th career 20-point scoring contest with a 21-point performance against Flagler. Bernard went 8-of-15 from the floor. He tallied eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Bernard was a perfect 5-of-5 at the free throw line.
 
Luke Waters also reached double-figure scoring with his second straight 17-point game. Waters has posted 43 career double-figure scoring games as a Bearcat.
 
The Bearcats shot 50.8% from the field by making 32-of-63 shots on the night. The Bearcats knocked in 10 three-pointers with four different Northwest players hitting from distance. Jackson had six, Waters had two, Bennett Stirtz had one and Mitch Mascari had one as well.
 
Northwest committed 11 turnovers, but forced Flagler into 16 miscues. Northwest had nine steals and blocked three shots. The Bearcats also won the battle of the boards, 33-30.
 
Northwest used a 6-0 run to turn a 14-13 lead into a 20-13 advantage with 12:21 to play in the opening half. Flagler's Chase Fiddler sank a three to cut the Northwest lead to 27-20 with 7:34 left in the half.
 
Northwest then went on a 17-4 spurt that led to a 20-point cushion for the Bearcats with 4:03 remaining before intermission. The Bearcats went cold offensively in the final three minutes of the half as the Saints trimmed the lead to 11 at 45-34.
 
However, freshman Bennett Stirtz scored the final hoop of the half with :03 left to give Northwest a 47-34 advantage as they headed to the locker room. The Bearcats shot 53.3% from the field on 16-of-30 shots in the first half.
 
Northwest took the lead to 21 at 60-39 on a triple from Mitch Mascari with 16:41 to play in the game. The Bearcats took their largest lead of the contest at 64-41 on a layup by Diego Bernard with 14:04 left on the clock. A three-pointer from Luke Waters pushed the advantage back to 23 at 69-46 with 11:59 to play.
 
The Saints climbed back into it with an 18-4 run that cut the lead to 10 at 73-64 with 7:16 to play.
 
Jackson answered the Saints' run by scoring the next 15 points for the Bearcats. He drained a triple with 6:37 left for his first bucket in the second half. Jackson hit a layup on a second-chance opportunity to give Northwest a 78-64 lead with 5:23 to play.
 
Following three made free throws by Flagler, Jackson delivered his fifth made triple of the game with 2:44 to play to take the lead back to 14 at 81-67. Jackson came through with another layup at 1:43 to take the lead back to 12 at 83-71.
 
Jackson sank a pair of free throws with 1:11 left before sinking his sixth three-pointer of the game with :23 remaining to cap the Bearcat scoring. Flagler scored on a layup on its final possession to bring the final to 88-75 in Northwest's favor.
 
Northwest will be back in action next weekend in St. Joseph, Mo. at the Hillyard Classic. Northwest will match up against Northern State (Friday, 5:30 p.m.) and against Minnesota-Crookston (Saturday, 4 p.m.).
 
NOTES: Luke Waters and Diego Bernard were named to the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic All-Tournament Team … Northwest moved to 8-0 all-time at the Small College Classic … Northwest is 133-8 over the past five seasons … the Bearcats have posted a mark of 195-13 over the last seven seasons … Northwest had two 20-point scorers in the same game for the first time since Wes Dreamer (23) and Trevor Hudgins (21) did that against Missouri Western on Feb. 5, 2022 … Northwest is 57-1 in its last 58 games on neutral courts … Diego Bernard moved into No. 8 on Northwest's all-time scoring list with 1,694 points … Bernard slid past Kelvin Parker's career total of 1,692 points from 2000-2004 … Bernard is the seventh Bearcat to reach 600 made field goals in a career … Bernard has made 602 career field goals.
 
2022 Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic All-Tournament Team
Chaney Johnson, AL Huntsville
Max Shulman, AL Huntsville
E.J. Dambreville, FL Southern
Joe Reuter, Hillsdale
Kyle Goessler, Hillsdale
Dallas Graziani, Nova Southeastern
RJ Sunahara, Nova Southeastern
Kyle Young, Flagler
Luke Waters, Northwest Mo. St.
Diego Bernard, Northwest Mo. St.
MVP: Jadin Booth, Florida Southern