Northwest Missouri State Men To Play For MIAA Tournament Title

MIAA Basketball Tournament

The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team reached its eighth consecutive MIAA Tournament championship with a 63-52 win over the Emporia State University Hornets at Municipal Auditorium.

The Bearcats (29-2 overall) won their 15th straight game this season. Northwest also captured its 20th consecutive victory in the MIAA Tournament in games played in Kansas City.

Northwest will meet Central Oklahoma, 55-51 winners over Fort Hays State, in Sunday’s MIAA Championship game. Tip is set for 1 p.m.

Northwest’s defense shined again by not allowing Emporia State to make a three-pointer in the contest. ESU went 0-of-11 from three-point land. It was the first time in 417 games the Hornets were held without a three-point make. The Bearcats limited the Hornets to 8-of-21 shooting in the second half to take a two-point halftime lead and eventually push it out to a 20-point margin with 4:53 left in the game.

Northwest had four players in double-figure scoring led by junior Wes Dreamer’s 15-point afternoon. Dreamer went 6-of-12 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds. Freshman Bennett Stirtz notched 14 points to go along with five rebounds, three steals and an assist. Sophomore Byron Alexander led the bench effort with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Senior Diego Bernard became the program’s all-time leader in rebounds in the contest. Bernard snatched five rebounds to give him 949 career bounds to surpass Ryan Hawkins’s total of 948 rebounds. Bernard scored 12 points, dished out five assists and was credited with four steals.

MIAA Tournament
Men
Northwest Missouri State 65 Emporia State 52
Central Oklahoma 55 Fort Hays State 51

Women
Missouri Southern 63 Nebraska Kearney 51
Central Missouri 66 Fort Hays State 64 OT