The bubble finally burst for the Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball season as they suffered their first two losses of the season in action in Hawaii Saturday and Sunday. They fell 59-50 to St. Edwards in the Saturday matchup before falling to Harding on Sunday.
In the St. Edwards game, they were outworked as they were outrebounded for the second time all year, 40-34 in the loss. They never led in the game, digging themselves into an 8-0 hole and falling behind 34-22 at the half. They rallied to trail by 4 and had some chances to cut it to one possession late in the game, but had some empty possessions before they had to foul and get the ball back. They only shot 35.6% from the field; St. Edwards was not much better, but they had 16 more attempts from the field than Northwest did. Northwest came off a 90-point outburst against Kearney in their last win; sometimes, when coming off a prolific offensive game like the Kearney game, there is frequently a high danger of a letdown in the following game.
Dillon Starzl led Northwest in the St. Edwards game with 17 points. DeAngelo Hailey followed with 9. Grant Cozad had 7, Alex Sullivan had 6, Tyler Funk had 5, Kyle Schlake had 4, and Matt Wallace 2. Wallace led the assists with 7 and had two steals as well. Starzl had 7 boards for Northwest, followed by Schlake with 5.
Northwest dug themselves into a 12-point first half hole against Harding before coming back and having a chance to win it at the end. Northwest whittled away at the lead, coming to within 68-66 at the 14 second mark. DeAngelo Haley was fouled with three seconds left with a chance to tie it with two free throws, but missed them both. Matt Wallace got the offensive board and shot for the win at the end, but his attempt was blocked at the buzzer by Harding.
Northwest outrebounded Harding 37-30, but perimeter defense was a weakness for Northwest in both Hawaii games. They gave up eight 3-pointers to St. Edwards and then followed that by giving up 13 to Harding in the loss; every time Northwest would come close in the second half, Harding would hit a 3-pointer. Northwest’s shooting was cold in both games as they shot 35.5% in the Harding game, including 28.1% in the second half.
Northwest got 8 people in the scoring column against Harding. DeAngelo Hailey did all he could in the game, getting 24 points and three 3-pointers for the Bearcats. Bench sparkplug Grant Cozad followed with 12 points in just 20 minutes of work. Alex Sullivan and Dillon Starzl had 7 each, Tyler Funk had 6, Kyle Schlake had 5, Conner Crooker had 3, and Matt Wallace had 2. Wallace led in assists with 8. Hailey led with 8 boards, followed by Alex Sullivan and Matt Wallace with 6, and Kyle Schlake with 5. Hailey had 3 steals for Northwest. Starzl had two blocks.
The Bearcat men have had a lot of close games this year; sometimes, when you live on the edge, you fall off the edge. The Final Four Women’s team found that out two years ago. The men will try and get back on track on the 29th when they host Central Methodist at 2:00 p.m.
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