ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Missouri Western men's basketball (15-7, 6-5 MIAA) went on a 13-4 run in the closing minutes of the second half to pull away from Northwest Missouri State in a 71-58 win on Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

Missouri Western got off to a 7-1 start, but Northwest found a groove in the first half and led 11-10 with 12:44 left in the first half. The entire first half went back-and-forth and the game was tied 33-33 by halftime.

Northwest (4-16, 2-9 MIAA) had a strong start to the second half, leading 43-38 with 17:01 to go. With the game tied once again at 52-52 and 7:52 to play, Missouri Western went on a 13-4 run to lead 65-56 with 2:40 to play.

A pair of Zion Swader free throws, a Justin Bubak dunk and a Swader layup in the final 1:32 of the game put things out of reach, as Western ended the contest on a 6-0 run. Swader and Bubak led the scoring effort with 17 points each.

Bubak added four rebounds and three steals, while Swader had six rebounds and four assists.

Julius Dixon poured in 16 points, while Zane Nelson added 12 points with a team-best six assists, five rebounds and two steals. Nelson left the game with 1:32 remaining after taking a hard fall on the floor on a running basket attempt.

Missouri Western shot 44.4% (24-of-54) from the field, including 6-of-20 (30%) from three. The Griffons were also an impressive 17-of-20 at the free throw line. Defensively, MWSU held Northwest to 8-of-29 (27.6%) from three. The Bearcats were 21-of-51 (41.2%) on the day overall. Northwest was also 8-of-14 at the free throw line.

Marcus Glock led Northwest with 14 points, as the Bearcats absorbed their sixth straight loss. Northwest has also been swept by MWSU in the regular season for the first time since 1998-99.

Missouri Western is back on the road this week to face Rogers State (16-8, 7-5 MIAA) on Thursday. Tip-off from the Claremore Expo Center is set for 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen).