MARYVILLE, Mo. - The William Jewell Cardinals used a 14-4 run in the final two minutes to score a 92-85 win over the Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball squad Monday night at Bearcat Arena.
The Bearcats battled back from a 12-point first-half deficit to hold an 81-78 lead after a putback basket from
Presley Ibeh. The Cardinals re-took the lead at 83-81 on a Ty Romero triple only to see
Robby Garcia knot the game at 83-83 with 1:05 to play.
Jewell's Justice Sutton knocked down a top of the key three with 41 ticks left to give the visitors a lead they would not relinquish.
Barron Silsby misfired on an attempt to tie the game and Jewell's Ashton Jermain sank two free throws to push the lead to five. After a
Larenz Walters putback trimmed the margin back to three at 88-85, Jewell sank four more free throws to ice the win, 92-85.
William Jewell drained 27-of-28 free throws and buried 11-of-25 three-pointers. Northwest went 12-of-25 at the line and 5-of-25 from distance. Northwest made seven more field goals than William Jewell (34-27) and won the rebounding battle (48-42).
Garcia put together career-highs in points (25) and rebounds (14) for his first career double-double. Ibeh led the bench scoring with 15 points. Silsby and
Booker Scheierman each contributed 14 points as starters. Walters battled early foul trouble and put up 10 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes of action.
Northwest will head to the Hilyard Classic in St. Joseph, Mo., this Friday and Saturday to take on Bemidji State and St. Cloud State.
