Bearcats win both games at home classic

For the second straight night, the Northwest Missouri State men's basketball team put together a solid defensive effort, knocking off Southwest Minnesota State 74-62 to close out the Bearcat Classic on Sunday.

Northwest kept its record perfect at 5-0 after they held off Upper Iowa Saturday. SMSU fell to 3-4 after a last-second win against Central Missouri in the opening game of the Bearcat Classic.

Northwest never trailed and shot an impressive 59 percent from the field in the first half to build a 38-29 halftime lead.

SMSU did not go quietly however, pulling as close as five points with 2:37 left in the game on a Jordan Miller jumper from the elbow.

With just under two minutes left to play, DeAngelo Hailey drilled an open three-pointer from the left wing and extended Northwest's lead back to eight points. It never dipped below that margin again.

Hailey led the Bearcats in scoring for the second straight night, as he finished with a game high 20 points off the bench.

Northwest shot 80 percent from the free-throw line and flexed its muscles inside as they out-rebounded the Mustangs 39-28.

Dillon Starzl finished with 16 points and six rebounds while Alex Sullivan continued his hot streak from behind the three-point line adding 14 points. Sullivan was 4-for-6 from three and is shooting an amazing 54 percent on the young season.

Nick Smith led SMSU with 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.

The Bearcats have one final non-conference tune-up when they host York College Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Saturday's Results

Opening day of the Bearcats Classic brought a win for the Northwest Missouri State men over Upper Iowa 59-52.

The Bearcats pulled away in the final minutes of the game to clinch their fourth victory of the season.

DeAngelo Hailey led the way with 13 points and four rebounds and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

Dillon Starzl also finished with double digits points with 12 and led the Bearcats with six rebounds.