Bearcats wipe out 20-point deficit, win late over NSU

In the bleakest of situations, Northwest Missouri State's men delivered the mother of all character wins.

Minus top post man Dillon Starzl along with All-MIAA DeShaun Cooper, Northwest stormed back from a 20-point first half deficit to beat Northeastern State in thrilling fashion 73-72 Thursday night at Bearcat Arena.

Freshman guard Conner Crooker was fouled as he hit a driving layup with 4.3 seconds and knocked down the go-ahead free throw.

It stood as the game-winner after NSU's Christian Mack missed a three at the buzzer.

The win pulled the Bearcats (14-5, 7-3) into a second-place tie with Washburn and ended NSU's four-game winning streak. The visiting RiverHawks fell to 14-5 overall and 7-5 to sit a half a game behind the Bearcats and Ichabods.

Northwest led for a total of 1:01 in the game and was down 42-22 with 5:22 left in the first half.

The Bearcats trimmed the gap to nine at half and went in front for the first time with 6:35 left, but fell behind again a minute later and faced a five-point deficit with 27 seconds left.

Alex Sullivan restored Northwest's hopes with a three—just the team's second of the game on 12 attempts—with 19 seconds left on a kick-out from Matt Wallace to make it 72-70.

The Riverhawks had a chance to add to that lead, but point guard and leading scorer Bryton Hobbs missed two free throws with 10 seconds left.

Crooker's game-winning three-point play on the ensuing possession completed a career-high 24 point night.

He was 9-9 at the foul line and the Bearcats finished 29-32. NSU finished 18-27 at the line after hitting 12 of its first 13. Three of its nine misses came in the final 27 seconds.

Williams was a 9-12 at the line and finished with a season-high 17 points.

Grant Cozad added a career-high 19 points as the Bearcats and seven rebounds, starting his first game in place of the injured Starzl.

Northwest held the RiverHawks' leading scorer, Hobbs, to just nine points. The MIAA's leading rebounder, Jermaine Bransford finished with 17 points and just two rebounds.

NSU shot 62.5 percent in the first half and finished at 52.2 percent. The Bearcats shot just 38.8 percent but only turned it over eight times.

The Bearcats quickly return to the hardwood Saturday to face Emporia State at Bearcat Arena. Tipoff between the Bearcats and the Hornets is set for 3:30 p.m.