ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Griffon Men's Basketball (7–2, 1–0 MIAA) opened league play with a statement rivalry win on Tuesday night, powering past Northwest Missouri State (6–3, 0–1 MIAA) in a 99–77 victory inside the Looney Complex.

Early on, neither team could create much separation, setting the stage for a competitive first half. At the 13:50 mark, the Griffons held a 13–9 edge. It stayed a four-point game at the 10:35 mark after a Northwest 6–0 spurt made it 19–15 in favor of MWSU. From there, the Griffons found their rhythm, stringing together a 16–5 scoring run. A Noah King layup at the 6:08 mark capped the surge and pushed MoWest to its largest lead of the half at 35–20. Northwest responded with a surge of its own, trimming the Griffon advantage to 39–35 after a three-pointer. The half closed with a momentum-swinging buzzer-beater from Ty Henry, sending the Griffons into the locker room up 46–39.

In the second half, the Griffons took control and never looked back after the opening minutes. The lead briefly shrank to three at 50–47 following a Bearcat and-one, but MoWest's offense erupted from there, piling up 55 second-half points to secure its first MIAA home win of the year in a big rivalry victory, 99–77. The Griffons have now scored over 90 points in back-to-back games and have extended their win streak to four.

Noah King led the way with 25 points on 9-for-19 shooting while adding 7 rebounds and 4 assists in a strong all-around performance.

Ty Henry followed with 23 points on an efficient 8-for-10 from the field, contributing 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

The Griffons turned in an efficient shooting performance, finishing at 58.6 percent from the field on 34-of-58 attempts. They were equally solid from long range, connecting on 50 percent of their three-point shots at 10-of-20. At the free-throw line, the team closed the night at 72.4 percent by making 21 of 29 attempts.

Northwest Missouri State finished the game shooting 49.2 percent from the field on 30-of-61 attempts. The Bearcats added a strong night from beyond the arc at 45 percent, going 9-of-20. At the free throw line, Northwest closed at 72.7 percent by making 8 of its 11 attempts.

What's Next
Griffon Men's Basketball heads out for its first MIAA road test of the season, traveling to Emporia, Kansas for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff on Saturday, December 6 against Emporia State.