EDMOND, Okla. – The No. 6-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball kept on trucking through the MIAA Thursday night with a 76-70 victory over the University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos at the Hamilton Fieldhouse.
 
The Bearcats out-distanced the Bronchos with a 44-32 scoring advantage in the second half as Northwest overcame a six-point halftime deficit to extend its winning streak to 12 in a row.
 
Northwest improved to 23-4 overall and 19-2 in MIAA play. Central Oklahoma dropped to 19-10 overall and 11-10 in league action. Northwest snapped a two-game losing skid in Edmond behind a pair of 20-point scoring efforts from Wes Dreamer (21) and Bennett Stirtz (20).
 
Northwest missed its first three shots of the game, but responded by making its next seven field goals to take a 23-17 lead with 11:01 left in the opening half. UCO answered with a 12-3 run to take a 29-26 lead.
 
Isaiah Jackson ended a five-minute field goal scoring drought and a string of eight straight misses for the Bearcats with a layup with 4:41 left in the half to cut the UCO lead to 29-28. A driving one-handed dunk by Stirtz brought the Bearcats even with the Bronchos at 32-32 with 2:19 left in the first half. However, UCO closed the half on a 6-0 spurt to take a 38-32 lead at the break.
 
At the 12:37 mark of the second half, Dreamer gave the Bearcats their first lead of the second half at 46-45. Stirtz extended the lead to four at 53-49 when he drained a triple out of the right corner as the shot clock wound down with 10:05 left in the contest. Stirtz pushed the lead to seven at 58-51 on a bucket with 6:47 left. Back-to-back triples from Stirtz and Isaiah Jackson lengthened the lead to 11 at 64-53. Jackson's three-pointer capped a 14-4 spurt.
 
UCO did not let up and scored six straight points to trim the Northwest lead to 64-59. Daniel Abreu sank a triple to lift the lead back to eight with 3:08 to play at 67-59.
 
Dreamer went 2-of-2 at the line to take the lead back to eight at 69-61. UCO's Majok Majouk sank two free throws with 2:40 left to slice the lead back to six. Abreu hit a layup with 2:15 remaining for Northwest's final made field goal of the game which put the 'Cats up, 71-63.
 
The MIAA's leading scorer Jaden Wells hit two free throws with just over two minutes to play to get the Bronchos back within six at 71-65. UCO got the ball back with less than a minute to play but UCO's Danquez Dawsen was whistled for an offensive foul as Stirtz took the charge with :49 left. On the Bearcats' ensuing possession, Dreamer buried a three-pointer with :28 left to give Northwest a 74-65 advantage. Wells sank his second three-pointer of the game to cap his 28-point scoring effort and make the final margin, 76-70, in favor of the visiting Bearcats. Wells came into the game averaging a league-best 20.9 points per contest.
 
Jackson led the Bearcat rebounding charge with eight. Northwest won the rebounding battle with UCO, 28-26. Jackson added seven points and four assists.
 
Abreu tallied 16 points, while Mitch Mascari added nine points to lift the Bearcats to the victory.
 
Northwest will close out the MIAA regular season Saturday in Joplin, Mo., against the Missouri Southern Lions. Tip is set for 3:30 p.m. at the Leggett and Platt Athletic Center.
 
NOTES: Central Oklahoma's 38-point first half ranked as the third-most points allowed this season by the Bearcats … Washburn and Missouri Western each put up 39 first-half points vs. Northwest … only three of Northwest's last 21 opponents have reached 70 or more points (Washburn, Missouri Western and Central Oklahoma) … Northwest owns a 20-5 lead in the all-time series with Central Oklahoma … head coach Ben McCollum is 15-3 vs. UCO … Northwest's 19 MIAA wins ranks as the third-best win total in league history (21 for Northwest in 2020-21; 20 for Northwest in 2022-23) … it is only the sixth time in league history that an MIAA team has won 19 or more league wins in a season – Northwest has done it five times … Northwest has won 35 of its last 37 games with MIAA opponents … Northwest is 247-20 over the last eight seasons … Mitch Mascari has made at least one three-pointer in 23 of 27 games this season … Wes Dreamer captured his 27th career 20-point scoring game, as he posted 14 second-half points … Bennett Stirtz earned his 11th career 20-point scoring contest … it is the second time this season that Dreamer and Stirtz have each scored 20 points in the same games (previously vs. Emmanuel on Nov. 18, 2023) … Dreamer moved up to No. 6 on Northwest's all-time scoring chart … Dreamer has scored 1,758 points as he surpassed David Alvey's total of 1,747 points from 1973-77 … head coach Ben McCollum moved his career record to 388-90, including 240-63 in MIAA games.