Northwest men win both games at Hillyard Classic

A solid second half from Alex Sullivan helped the Northwest Missouri State men's basketball team take a 75-56 win over William Jewell Saturday night at the 21st Annual Hillyard Tipoff Classic.

Northwest improved to 3-0 on the season and won both games at the Hillyard Classic for the second straight season. William Jewell fell to 1-2 on the season after knocking off Missouri Western 76-60 Friday night behind 10 three-pointers.

Saturday night, however, was all Northwest.

Sullivan scored 14 second half points and finished 4-of-9 from behind the three-point arc to pace Northwest in the win. The senior guard finished with a game-high 22 points.

It was his second 20-plus point game of the season, a plateau he never reached last year.

After taking a 27-23 lead at half time, Northwest never trailed in the second half. The Bearcats out-rebounded William Jewell 46-32 and also got 20 second chance points compared to only 12 for the Cardinals.

Senior guard DeAngelo Hailey added 20 points for Northwest and pulled in six rebounds. Hailey and Sullivan combined for 42 points in the non-conference win while Kyle Schlake grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Bearcats continued a hot streak from behind the three-point line, connecting on 8-18 (44 percent).

Northwest returns to action after the Thanksgiving break with home games against Upper Iowa and Southwest Minnesota at the Bearcat Classic Nov. 24 and 25.

Friday's results

Junior Dillon Starzl poured in 20 points to lead Northwest Missouri State to a 55-38 victory over Rockhurst Friday night in non-conference men's basketball action at the 21st Annual Hillyard Tipoff Classic.

Starzl hit a jumper at the 3:37 mark of the first half to pull the Bearcats even at 19-19. The junior would extend the Bearcat lead after hitting a pair of free throws as Northwest took a 21-19 lead into the break.

Northwest continued to find success inside as they outscored the Hawks 26-14 in the paint. The Bearcat defense was again in full force, pressing the Hawks into 16 turnovers and holding them to just 14-of-47 shooting on the night.

Alex Sullivan continued his hot start, draining back-to-back three-pointers to open the second half and sparking Northwest to an early 10 point lead. Sullivan finished with eight points in the win.

The Bearcats would pull away when DeAngelo Hailey hit his third trey of the night with 7:51 left in the game, putting Northwest up 46-32. Northwest scored 10 of the game's final 15 points to close out the win.

Hailey finished the night with nine points.

Northwest hit five second half three-pointers to finish 5-9 on the night.