Championships Recap: NW Shoots Past LU, Advances To Fourth Consecutive Title Game

Northwest Missouri Becomes First MIAA Team To Make Four Straight MIAA Championship Game

MIAA Communications

Men's Basketball | 3/9/2019 4:11:44 PM


KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After a close call in the quarterfinals, No. 1 seed Northwest Missouri State, the three-time defending conference tournament champion, made sure there were no nervous moments in the second half against Lincoln.

Northwest Missouri took a 17-point lead into halftime and maintained a sizable lead throughout the second half on the way to an 86-69 victory Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament at Municipal Auditorium.

9209“We knew coming out of halftime, they weren’t going to quit,” said Northwest Missouri senior Joey Witthus, the MIAA conference player of the year. “I think it showed a lot of maturity from us that even though we made some mistakes, we stuck with it, moved the ball around and was patient.”

The Bearcats improved to 31-0 and will go for their fourth straight MIAA Tournament title 1 p.m. Sunday.

Witthus hit three, three-pointers in the first half and scored 13 points. Freshman guard Diego Bernard added 10 as the Bearcats concluded the first half with a 43-26 lead.

“I think we did come ready to play,” Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. “I didn’t think we were overly ready last game against Emporia. I thought we played with a little fear rather than play to win.”

Nine minutes into the second half, Northwest Missouri was still comfortably ahead 61-45 and that jumped to 64-45 on a three-pointer by junior Ryan Welty.

Northwest Missouri increased its lead to 20 at 70-50 on a put-back basket by sophomore Ryan Hawkins.

Lincoln made a minor run and closed to 76-62 with 5 minutes left, but the Blue Tigers didn’t have enough firepower left to erase a 20-point deficit.

“I have a lot of respect for the Lincoln program and what they have done,” McCollum said.  “They had a tough game yesterday, which they won against Fort Hays. Obviously, they came ready to play. They play the right way. They are fun to play because they compete and do play the right way.”

Led by Witthus’ 23 points and Bernard’s 21 points, the Bearcats saw all five starters score in double figures.

“We understand it is postseason and it is going to be 40 minutes,” McCollum said.

The 2019 MIAA Basketball Championships are presented by MoDOT’s Buckle Up, Phone Down campaign.