ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Missouri Western men's basketball (17-11, 8-9 MIAA) concludes the regular season this week with a road game at Emporia State (9-17, 6-11 MIAA) on Wednesday night and then a home game against Newman (14-12, 7-10 MIAA) on Saturday afternoon.

Tip-off in Wednesday's game from White Civic Auditorium in Emporia, KS is set for 7:30 p.m., while Saturday's game at MWSU Fieldhouse will start at 3:30 p.m.

Both games will be broadcast live on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen) with Tommy Rezac on the call. They'll also be available to watch on the MIAA Network with a subscription.
 
Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen)
Live broadcasts of Missouri Western athletics are available on The Varsity Network app. All home and away football games, along with all home and away men's and women's basketball games, are available to listen to for FREE on the Varsity Network App and at GoGriffons.com/listen.

Available on iPhone and Android, fans can access free audio streams for game days on the Varsity Network App. Fans can also receive push notifications as reminders for upcoming games and broadcasts.
 
Once you download The Varsity Network app, search 'Missouri Western' and select which Griffon teams you want to follow. For more information on The Varsity Network and how to listen live to the Griffons, click here. Audio broadcasts can also be found at GoGriffons.com/listen. Audio broadcasts will also be archived at GoGriffons.com/listen and on the Varsity Network App in the 'On Demand' section.

Last Time Out
Kiani Saxon's go-ahead layup with seven seconds left was the difference, as Missouri Western men's basketball (17-11, 8-9 MIAA) topped Northeastern State, 83-81, this past Saturday at the NSU Event Center in Tahlequah.

Saxon was one of five Griffons in double figures, as he finished with a season-high 14 points and a career-high five assists. Zane Nelson capped off a spectacular week with a team-best 24 points and a team-best in rebounds (6), assists (8) and steals (4).

Missouri Western came ready to play, racing out to a 10-2 start in the first two minutes. Northeastern (14-12, 8-9 MIAA) answered back with an 11-2 run and led 29-22 with 7:35 left in the first half.

The Griffons never trailed by more than that, and pulled it to within 37-35 by halftime. The second  half was air tight throughout, with both teams trading the lead and big baskets.

Saturday's game featured 13 ties and 12 lead changes in all.

Trailing 65-60 with 9 minutes to go, the Griffons tied it at 72-72 with 4:59 to go off of a three-pointer by Ethan Kilgore. MWSU retook the lead three different times in the final minute. After NSU tied it, 81-81, at the free throw line with 16 seconds left, Saxon's go-ahead came off a pass from Nelson, as Saxon charged down the lane and laid the ball up right by the rim.

Northeastern State still had seven seconds to work with, and Taven Washington had a strong look at a buzzer beater for the win from the right corner, but it was off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Zion Swader came up big with 11 second half points, finishing with 13 to go with five assists and five rebounds. Kilgore ended up with 12 points and three boards. Justin Bubak, who had a key layup in the final 30 seconds, had 11 points as well on 2-for-2 shooting from long range.

Safe to say, the Griffons had a great day offensively, shooting 53.3% (32-of-60) and 9-of-22 (40.9%) from three. The Riverhawks were just as impressive from the field, hitting 31-of-55 (56.4%) overall and 5-of-15 (33.3%) from beyond the arc.

The Griffons outrebounded NSU 32-26, including 11-5 on the offensive glass. MWSU doled out 22 assists - the most they've had against an NCAA Division II opponent this season. 
 
Series Histories
Wednesday marks the 87^th meeting with Emporia State. The Griffons hold a 49-37 advantage in this series all time, though the Hornets have won the last two and these two teams have split each of the last eight meetings.

ESU beat Western in St. Joseph earlier this season on Dec. 7, 2024 by the score of 74-72, thanks to a go-ahead jumper by Malik Edwards with under 2 seconds remaining.

Saturday is the eighth all-time meeting with Newman. The Griffons own a 5-2 advantage here, including a season series sweep last season.

Senior Saturday
Missouri Western will honor nine seniors in all on Saturday – Julius Dixon, Zane Nelson, Zion Swader, Justin Bubak, Kiani Saxon, J.C. Anthony, Matt Nunez, Kidtrell Blocker and Ethan Kilgore.

Four of the have nine seniors have been with MWSU for four years or longer, while six have been in the program for a minimum of three years.

(Almost) March Madness
Missouri Western men's basketball rose up to No. 5 in the latest KPI Rankings put out by the MIAA Monday. KPI is a new power rankings system used by the MIAA to seed its conference basketball tournament in March.

The MIAA tournament seeds will be announced roughly an hour after the conclusion of all conference games this Saturday evening.

New 1,000 point club member
Senior Julius Dixon is the 20th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points and the fifth to do so since coach Will Martin came on staff in 2018. Dixon has scored 1,023 points in 88 total games for Missouri Western – 87 of those being starts.

Dixon scored 136 total points in two seasons at Division I Morehead State, giving him 1,159 points in his entire collegiate career currently.

Keepin' Em Off the Glass 
Missouri Western ranks No. 2 in the MIAA and No. 6 in the nation in opponent rebounds allowed per game. The Griffons are allowing just 29.8 rebounds per game by their opponents this season.

Individual Leaders
Senior Zane Nelson has made a substantial impact for the Griffons this season. The Arkansas-Monticello transfer and last season's Great American Conference Newcomer of the Year leads the team with 15.1 points per game and ranks No. 4 in the MIAA with 4.5 assists per contest.
 
Zion Swader has had a successful senior season, averaging 11.9 points per game. Defensively, he has recorded a team-best 41 steals. The Murfreesboro, Tennessee native has played in 109 games at MWSU with 84 career starts.

Swader has accumulated 914 career points in his Griffon career.

Julius Dixon has been a rebounding machine, ranking No. 8 in the MIAA with 6.1 rebounds per contest. Meanwhile, senior Kiani Saxon has caused havoc at the rim with 31 blocks (t-3^rd MIAA).
 
Emporia Evaluation
Emporia State enters the week, just below the cutline for the MIAA tournament, ranking No. 11 in the KPI. The Hornets started the year 2-7, but have started to play better, scoring wins this month over Central Oklahoma, Missouri Southern and Fort Hays State.

Emporia State is nearing the end of the first year under new head coach Tom Billeter, who was hired away from Augustana to succeed Craig Doty, who's now the head coach at Division I Houston Christian.

Billeter secured his 500^th career win as a head coach just this season, and won a national title at Augustana back in 2016.

Emporia returned just one player that even saw the floor from last year's team that finished 19-12 overall. The Hornets added seven transfers, including three from Augustana, and four true freshmen.
ESU's lead scorer is Division I Niagara transfer Malik Edwards, who leads the team with 13.3 points per game.

Parker Day is ESU's lead rebounder, ranking No. 4 in the league with 6.8 rebounds per game.

Newman Notes
Newman is the last team into the MIAA tournament for now, sitting at No. 10 in KPI this week. The Jets had lost four straight heading into last Saturday, but got a critical 89-85 win over Emporia State at home this past weekend to keep conference tournament hopes alive.

R.J. Allen is in his eighth season as Newman's head coach, and he has a chance to secure his first winning season this year since a 20-9 campaign in 2018-19.

The Jets have secured wins this season over teams like Northeastern State, defending GLVC tournament champion William Jewell, Arkansas-Fort Smith and Rogers State.

Newman has emerged as the No. 2 rebounding team in the MIAA, averaging 38.2 boards per contest, including a league best 12.2 offensive rebounds per game.

Newman has three players averaging more than 10 points per game, led by University of Mount Olive transfer Aaron Murphy with 12 points per contest. Sam Somerhalder is shooting 52.5% from the field – the fourth highest mark in the MIAA.