Bearcats go winless in Hawaii

No. 10 Northwest Missouri State went 0-for-Hawaii, losing its final game of the Hawaii Classic to Harding 68-66 Sunday night.

After trailing by as many as 14 points, the Bearcats had a chance to force overtime or win it in the final seconds.

With the Bearcats down two, DeAngelo Hailey missed the first of two free throws with 2.6 seconds left, and the second one intentionally. Sophomore guard Matt Wallace grabbed the offensive rebound and got off a game-winning three-point attempt that was off the mark.

The Bearcats (8-2) finished 0-2 at the Hawaii Classic following eight straight wins to open the year.

For the second straight game, Northwest never led and shot right around 36 percent from the field.

The Bearcats were only 7-25 (28 percent) from three and 15-24 (62.5 percent) from the foul line.

They did out-rebound Harding by seven, forced 20 turnovers and came up with eight steals.

Hailey matched his career-high with 24 points on 8-19 shooting to lead all scorers in the game. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Grant Cozad was the other Bearcat in double-figures with 12 points. He was 4-5 from the field.

Dillon Starzl and Alex Sullivan each scored seven points. Sullivan, a 45 percent shooter from three on the year, made just 2-9 from distance.

Harding (7-2) shot 23-47 (48.9 percent) from the field and 13-23 (56.5 percent) from three.

The Bison lit Northwest up in the first half, scoring 46 points on 17-30 shooting and 9-15 from three.

Northwest did a much better job defensively in the second half, limiting the Bison to 22 points on 6-17 shooting.

Harding had four in double-figures led by Andraz Kavaz with 15 points. Tony Cochran scored 14, Hayden Johnson had 12 and Adam Sterrenberg netted 10.

The Bison held a 36-22 lead on Northwest in the first half and finished it ahead 46-37.

Northwest's deficit hit 10 in the second half before the Bearcats made their push.

Three separate times they got within two points, and a jumper by Hailey made it 67-66 with with 16 seconds left. Weston Jameson split a pair of free throws with 14 seconds remaining, giving the Bearcats a chance to tie it or win it, but neither occurred.