Northwest Missouri State seniors thrive on Senior Night against Northeastern State
By Calvin Silvers
It was a special afternoon for Northwest Missouri State Basketball, as the Bearcats recognized the achievements of their seniors on Senior Night ahead of the contests between the Northeastern State RiverHawks.
The Northwest women tipped off first, and senior Jayna Green celebrated her night with a double-double to help propel the Bearcats in the second half for a 72-54 victory.
“These are kids that obviously I recruited and have been here through the whole time,” head coach Austin Meyer said. “Jayna is a fifth year kid, she’s been with me every year but one. The win total, I think Jayna has won 70, which is double, I think, the previous five year total, but beyond the results they’re just great kids.”
It would be junior Caely Keston that got the afternoon rolling, knocking down a three-pointer which would begin an ensuing five more would be made between the teams. The basket trading would end as RiverHawks’ Courtney Lee banked in a three to end the quarter in a 15-15 tie.
Nine different Bearcats would contribute with at least a point on the stat sheet. The combination of scoring helped Northwest construct a 9-2 run to start the second quarter.
“We play like a lot of people, and I think that we always have people ready to come in and like, kind of keep pushing,” Green said. “I think that the teams we play against, like, aren’t able to hang with the tempo that we play with.”
The tempo would be pushed in the second half, coming out of the halftime with another tie, this time at 29 after a pair of RiverHawk free-throws. The Bearcats retook the lead in the third quarter with buckets from Green and Kesten, which began an 8-0 run.
Peyton Kelderman found her rhythm from beyond the arc, knocking in three triples. Northwest took its largest lead of the game of 18 in the fourth quarter, cruising to a victory. The victory marked the 20th win, the first time since the 2010-11 season.
The No. 11-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team came into the contest on a nine game win streak, and found a second half groove to make it 10 straight with a 73-56 victory over the RiverHawks.
The contest saw Northwest fly out the gates, as they drained seven of their first 10 shots from the floor and built a 17-6 lead. The lead wouldn’t be safe for long, as NSU had a run of their own in store, going on a 13-2 spurt to find themselves tied at 19-19 with nearly seven minutes left in the half.
Bearcats’ Isaiah Jackson scored the last basket of the first half, and Northwest went into the halftime break with a three-point lead at 30-27.
In the second half, the Bearcats would pour on the points, which would allow six players reach double-figure scoring, as first for the season. Jackson swished a three from the corner to take a 12 point lead, 58-46 with 7:31 left.
Northwest would not fall below 12 the rest of the way, and achieved their 17 straight win against the RiverHawks. Jackson led with 13 points and five assists. Juniors Byron Alexander and Daniel Abreu each posted 12 points. Junior Mitch Mascari, sophomore Bennett Stirtz and redshirt freshman Trey Moala each tallied 11 points.
Northwest will wrap up its home regular season schedule next Saturday at home against Missouri Western Griffons. Tip is set for 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. in Bearcat Arena.
