TAHLEQUAH – Montre' Williams threw down a career high 28 points but a strong second half by the top-ranked Bearcats propelled them to a 96-63 win on Saturday evening at the NSU Event Center.

Northwest Missouri State shot 72.7-percent in the second half and knocked down 18 three-pointers on the RiverHawks who had their second best shooting game of the season going 48.8-percent (21-43) from the field. 

"They (Northwest Missouri) turned up the intensity in the second half and we didn't match it," said head coach Jason Tinsley.  "In the first half we were within striking distance, we did some good things in the zone, and we did some good things in our man on the defensive end.  But when they made their run, we went crazy, and we looked like we never seen the zone…in man we lost players all over the floor."

"We played a little shorthanded tonight but that's not an excuse, you got to figure out how to get the job done.  They (Northwest Missouri) are an unbelievably talented team, they have talent all over the floor in every position.

Tyler Williams added 14 points to NSU's total with Braxton Williams chipping in ten.  Montre' Williams went 9-for-13 from the field and connected on eight-of-nine opportunities at the free-throw line. 

"He's (Montre') has to do too much…we are just not getting a lot of help from a lot of people," added Tinsley.  "That's just the bottom line, everyone doesn't have to be a scorer but they have to bring something up to the table.  Right now we are just not getting enough production out of enough people."

In rebounding, NSU was limited to 19, which was nine fewer than Northwest Missouri; Tyler Williams and Javon Wallace led the RiverHawks with five each.

The RiverHawks led early in the game and held onto an 18-17 advantage by the midway mark in the first half.  Northwest Missouri pulled ahead by halftime 43-36 thanks to a 21-to-4-point margin on second chance shots and points on turnovers. 

Northwest Missouri's lead stayed in single digits for the first four minutes of the second half until they went on a 13-2 run on the RiverHawks to pull away 63-44.  The closest NSU got in the remaining time was 67-54 with 9:48 left on the clock but it was followed by a 19-2 run by the Bearcats.

The Bearcats were led by Ryan Welty who had 29 points and was perfect at the arc in all nine attempts, he also broke a 12-year old MIAA season record with 14 straight treys.   Saturday's win over NSU propelled NWMSU to 11-0 overall and 4-0 in the MIAA. 

Northeastern State falls to 2-9 this season and they are 1-3 in MIAA play, the RiverHawks will close out 2016 on Monday, Dec. 19 at Dallas Baptist.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-The RiverHawks shot a season high 88.2-percent (15-17) at the free-line.
- Northeastern State is 1-1 against ranked opponents.
- Montre' Williams has shot 15-26 from the field in the last two games and is 11-12 at the free-throw line.
 
NORTHWEST MISSOURI (11-0, 4-0 MIAA)
Welty,Ryan 9-9 2-2 29; Pitts,Justin 5-13 5-5 18; Schneider,Zach 5-11 0-0 15; Ndow,Chris-Ebou 3-6 4-6 11; Woods,Anthony 2-2 5-9 9; Dougherty,Brett 2-2 2-2 6; Kurth,Xavier 0-0 5-6 5; Mosby,D'Vante 1-2 1-1 3; Dougherty,Tyler 0-0 0-0 0; Starzl,Dray 0-0 0-0 0; Finley,Kirk 0-1 0-0 0; Graham,Grant 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-46 24-31 96.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE (2-9, 1-3 MIAA)
Williams, Montre' 9-13 8-9 28; Williams, Tyler 5-11 2-2 14; Williams, Braxton 3-6 2-2 10; Wallace, Javon 1-2 2-2 4; Broadnax, Erick 1-1 1-2 3; Mouse, Tanner 1-4 0-0 2; Adderley, Romone 1-3 0-0 2; Hill, Gordon 0-0 0-0 0; Cantrell, Trent 0-3 0-0 0; Kingsley, Scott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-43 15-17 63.
 
Northwest Missouri............   43   53  -   96
Northeastern State............   36   27  -   63
 
3-point goals--Northwest Missouri 18-34 (Welty,Ryan 9-9; Schneider,Zach 5-11; Pitts,Justin 3-10; Ndow,Chris-Ebou 1-4), Northeastern State 6-19 (Williams, Tyler 2-5; Williams, Braxton 2-4; Williams, Montre' 2-5; Mouse, Tanner 0-3; Adderley, Romone 0-1; Cantrell, Trent 0-1).
Fouled out--Northwest Missouri-None, Northeastern State-Wallace, Javon.
Rebounds--Northwest Missouri 28 (Woods,Anthony 7), Northeastern State 19 (Wallace, Javon 5; Williams, Tyler 5).
Assists--Northwest Missouri 22 (Pitts,Justin 12), Northeastern State 8 (Williams, Montre' 3).
Total fouls--Northwest Missouri 15, Northeastern State 20.
Technical fouls--Northwest Missouri-None, Northeastern State-None.
A-534