EMPORIA, Kan. – Northwest Missouri State University senior Emorie Knox scored 24 of his game-high 29 points in the second half to propel the Bearcats to a 65-54 road win over the Emporia State Hornets at White Auditorium.
 
Northwest captured its first MIAA win for head coach Matt Keeley as the Bearcats snapped a four-game losing streak. Northwest is 2-6 overall and 1-1 in MIAA play. ESU fell to 2-6 overall and 0-1 in league play.
 
Knox buried all five of his second-half three-pointers and churned out 24 of Northwest's 34 second-half points. Knox made seven of his nine second-half field goal attempts. Northwest buried 13 three-pointers with Knox leading the way with six triples. Spencer Schomers sank three from downtown, while Luke Moustakas and Marcus Glock each buried two from distance. Moustakas was the only other Bearcat in double figures with 13 points.
 
Northwest faced an early 9-3 deficit, but quickly turned the tide of the contest with a 19-4 run to give the Bearcats a 22-13 lead with 7:24 left in the half. Northwest held a 31-27 advantage at the break on the strength of 6-of-13 three-point shooting. ESU was limited to 1-of-6 from distance in the opening 20 minutes. Marcus Glock provided a spark off the bench as he buried his first three shots of the game and tallied nine points in the opening half.
 
ESU sliced the Northwest lead to two at 31-29 and 33-31, before the Emorie Knox caught fire and drained three consecutive triples. Knox's three-point barrage put Northwest on top, 42-31, with 17:37 to play in the game. Luke Moustakas drained one of two at the line to extend the run to 10 straight points for the Bearcats. Spencer Schomers and Knox sank two more triples and Knox scored a conventional three-point play to move the lead out to 52-36 with 11:34 to play. ESU cut the lead to six at 60-54 with 3:21 to play, but the Bearcats shut them out the rest of the way to claim the 11-point win.
 
The Bearcats will be off until road games on Dec. 14 at Northwest Nazarene and Dec. 16 at Central Washington.
 
NOTES: It is the third time this season that Northwest has buried 10 or more three-pointers in a game … Northwest sank a season-high 13 triples against ESU … Northwest held ESU to 26.9% shooting in the second half (7-of-26) … ESU made only 3-of-17 three-pointers in the contest (17.6%) … Northwest entered the contest having limited the opposition to 28.1% three-point shooting defense, which ranked No. 26 in the nation … ESU was held to 27 points in each half ... Moustakas has made at least one three-pointer in all eight games this season … Knox recorded his sixth career 20-point scoring game and second of the season … Byron Alexander and Jack Ratigan tied for team-high honors with six rebounds.