MARYVILLE, Mo. - Zane Nelson's three-pointer with four seconds remaining turned a one-point lead into a four-point victory, and it vaulted No. 17 Missouri Western (8-1, 1-0 MIAA) to a 70-66 win at Northwest Missouri State at Bearcat Arena onTuesday night.

The win is not only Missouri Western's eighth straight this season, but it also broke a streak of 15 straight losses at Bearcat Arena. It's the first win in Maryville for the Griffon men since Jan. 7, 2009.

Missouri Western started out strong, leading 6-0 out of the gate and then 11-6 with 15:12 left in the first half. The Griffons pushed that lead to 30-20 with 6:44 remaining before halftime.

Leading 37-32 at the break, Missouri Western battled the Bearcats (1-6, 0-1 MIAA) in a back-and-forth second half with both teams going on their own scoring runs. The Griffons had a 13-0 run to go up 55-44 with 9:23 to play.

With the game tied at 57-57 and 4:52 remaining, MWSU used a 10-2 barrage, highlighted by a Zion Swader three-pointer, to go back up 67-59 with 2:37 remaining.

Still, Northwest did not go quietly, closing to within 67-66 with 39 seconds left. Out of a Will Martin timeout, Missouri Western bled as much clock as they could. As the shot clock was about to expire, Nelson hit a long, contested three from up top to put the Griffons up 70-66 with just four seconds on the clock.

Northwest tried for a late three in the closing seconds, but the shot missed and it was Nelson who got the final rebound as time expired.

Nelson tied a season-high in scoring with 21 points to go with 10 rebounds - his first double-double of the season. Swader cashed in 13 points. Julius Dixon added nine points, while Kiani Saxon added eight points and five boards.

The Griffons shot 25-of-56 (44.6%), including 8-of-22 (36.4%) from three. MWSU also hit 12-of-14 (85.7%) from the free throw line. The Griffons only turned the ball over seven times and scored 18 points off of 11 Bearcat turnovers. MWSU held Northwest to 5-of-17 shooting from three, including just 1-of-6 in the second half.

Jack Ratigan led three Bearcats in double figures with 18 points. Northwest lost a home opener on Tuesday for just the third time since 1980 and the first time since 2014. Their loss to Missouri Western also ended a streak of 12 straight home wins, 23 straight home wins against MIAA teams and 16 straight wins against MIAA teams overall.

This also marks the first time that Missouri Western men's and women's basketball both won in Maryville on the same day since Jan. 27, 1999.

Missouri Western is back home to face Emporia State on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen) and on the MIAA Network.