January 28, 2004
Northwest Holds Off Upset-Minded Central Missouri
MARYVILLE, Mo. – Kelvin Parker (Sr., Raytown, Mo.) and Sky Wilson (Jr., Indio, Calif.) led the No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball team to a 68-58 win over Central Missouri State Wednesday night at Bearcat Arena.
The Bearcat backcourt tandem combined to score 41 of Northwest's 68 points in the victory. Parker scored a game-high 23 points, while Wilson tacked on 18. Jesse Shaw (Jr., Lincoln, Neb.) came off the bench to score 10 for Northwest.
The Bearcats held a 14-12 lead after a sluggish first nine minutes of the contest. But Northwest took advantage of a technical foul on the Central Missouri State bench to score seven points in one minute and grab a 21-12 lead.
Both offenses then went dormant again. Neither team scored for a span of 3:14 until Central's James Collins hit a pair of free throws with 6:51 remaining in the first half. Northwest answered Collins' free throws with a 9-0 spurt, sparked by a Wilson jumper. That run put the 'Cats up 30-14. Northwest parlayed that spurt into a 37-20 halftime advantage.
Central Missouri State quickly got back into the contest early in the second half. The Mules outscored Northwest 22-7 over the first seven minutes of the second period. Central continued to claw its way into the contest. Northwest grabbed a 10-point advantage, 52-42, when Parker hit a three-pointer with seven minutes left. The Mules answered with a three-pointer from Derek Weber, which sparked a 10-2 run. Northwest led by just two, 54-52, with 5:15 remaining in the contest.
The Bearcats got a bucket from Victor James (Fr., Crowley, Texas at the five-minute mark. Both teams struggled to score for nearly two minutes, until Byron Jackson scored on a jumper to give Northwest a six-point lead, 58-52, with 3:04 remaining. The Mules got a jumper from Weber and Shaw answered for Northwest, leaving the score at 60-54 with two minutes to go.
Over the final two minutes, the Bearcats converted eight-of-12 from the free-throw line to put the victory on ice.
Pat Schumacher, the 6-foot, 11-inch center, led Central. He scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Weber was the only other Mule in double figures, tallying 11 points.
 |
|
 |