ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The No. 3-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball team pulled away late against Missouri Western to secure the squads 11^th straight victory with a score of 68-59.
 
Northwest improves to 25-2 overall and 18-2 in MIAA play. Missouri Western drops to 11-14 overall and 7-12 in conference action.
 
After a quick Missouri Western bucket, Mitch Mascari responded with a three-pointer to give the 'Cats an early 3-2 lead. Both squads battled back and forth the lead for the first 10 minutes of action.
 
Bennett Stirtz got a break away that led to a dunk which sparked an 8-0 run for Northwest. Wes Dreamer followed the dunk with a layup, Byron Alexander sank a layup the next possession, and Bennett Stirtz closed out the run with another layup. With 8:29 to go in the half, the Bearcats were up 22-16.
 
It was all Griffons for the next five minutes of action as they responded with an 11-0 run of their own to take a 27-22 lead before Wes Dreamer ended it with two free throws with 2:03 to play before halftime.
 
At the half, Missouri Western had a 31-26 lead over Northwest.
 
Wes Dreamer accounted for 11 of the Bearcats 26 first half points as he was 3-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Dreamer also tallied a team-high five rebounds in the half.
 
Northwest quickly tied things up in the second half with four early points from Diego Bernard followed by a three-pointer from Wes Dreamer that forced a Missouri Western timeout. With 18:18 to play, the teams were knotted up at 33 apiece.
 
With the Griffons up 40-37, Mitch Mascari hit a big three to knot things up once again. Five minutes later, Northwest used a 5-0 run with two Bennett Stirtz free throws and another Mascari three to give the game its eighth tie of the day.
 
With 9:43 to go, Daniel Abreu was fouled on a three and connected on 2-of-3 free throws to give the 'Cats their first lead of the second half at 49-47.
 
Bennett Stirtz gave Northwest its largest lead of the day at 56-49 with his first three of the game to force a Griffon timeout.
 
Northwest was 8-for-8 at the free throw line in the final 2:05 of the game as the Bearcats get their 22^nd straight win against Missouri Western by a score of 68-59.
 
Wes Dreamer and Bennett Stirtz tied for a team-high 16 points. Dreamer had a team-high nine rebounds while Stirtz had a team-high seven free throws. Diego Bernard tallied 15 points and a team-best four assists. Mitch Mascari added nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc, and Byron Alexander recorded eight points with two blocks.
 
The Bearcats return home next week as they host Central Oklahoma and Missouri Southern to close out the regular season.