MARYVILLE, Mo. - The Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball team held the Lincoln Blue Tigers to the second-lowest scoring output of the Ben McCollum era in a 59-38 Bearcat win on Saturday.

Northwest improved to 17-2 overall and 10-2 in MIAA play. It is the 11th straight win at home for the Bearcats.

Senior guard Diego Bernard notched his second straight 20-point game in leading Northwest to its 17th consecutive win over Lincoln in the series between the two programs.

The 38 points allowed ranks as the second-lowest point total for an opposing team in the McCollum coaching era at Northwest. Central Missouri scored 37 points against Northwest on Jan. 30, 2021 for the lowest opponent scoring total.

Lincoln was limited to 26.5% shooting from the floor. The Blue Tigers made 5-of-20 first-half field goals, followed up by 8-of-29 in the second half. Lincoln made only two of 18 three-point field goal attempts in the contest.

Northwest had its second-lowest field goal percentage shooting on the season at 41.3%. The Bearcats shot 53.8% on 14-of-26 shooting in the first half, but cooled off in the second half and made only 5-of-20 (20.0%).

The Blue Tigers scored the first bucket of the game off the opening tip. But Northwest scored the next 18 points to take an 18-2 lead with 10:46 to play in the first half. The Bearcats led 39-14 at the break.

Northwest opened up a 26-point lead at 40-14 en route to the 59-38 victory.

The Bearcats will hit the road this week with games at Nebraska-Kearney (Thursday) and Fort Hays State (Saturday).