MARYVILLE, Mo. — Despite Griffon Men's Basketball hanging in early with No. 5/4 Northwest Missouri, the Bearcats pulled away with an 87-64 win on Saturday at Bearcat Arena.

The Griffons (7-6, 3-4 MIAA) took their first early lead thanks to a three by sophomore guard Zion Swader, putting MWSU up, 3-2. The Bearcats (14-1, 7-1 MIAA) took the lead back at 11-6, but MWSU was not going to go away quietly. Missouri Western took a 16-14 lead at the 9:24 mark of the first half thanks to an and-one play from sophomore guard Taye Fields, but a 20-2 run into halftime by Northwest gave the Bearcats all they needed to keep ahead of the Griffons for the rest of the evening. 

NOTABLES

• Junior forward JaRon Thames led all scorers with a season-high 17 points off the bench.
• With 14 points, sophomore guard Julius Dixon has scored 10 or more points in 12 of 13 games this season.
• Fields finished with 14 points, making 4-of-5 shots from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. 
• The Griffons took away more steals than Northwest by an 8-5 margin.
• MWSU matched Northwest with 29 bench points.

UP NEXT 
Missouri Western returns home this Tuesday for a 4 p.m. tipoff against (RV) Fort Hays State (11-4, 6-3 MIAA) at the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Tigers are coming off an 83-55 win over Pittsburg State on Saturday in Hays, Kansas.