Hilltoppers bounced from first round by #19 Northwest Missouri State, 72-48
STEPHENVILLE, Texas - The St. Edward's men's basketball team fell to #19 Northwest Missouri State, 72-48, Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional at Wisdom Gymnasium.
Northwest Missouri State (24-7) raced out to a 15-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game. The Bearcats forced the Hilltoppers into five turnovers and were 0-4 from the field. Hunter Henry tallied seven points and Lance Sullivan added four points during the stretch.
St. Edward's (23-7) got on the board at the 14:07 mark, when sophomore Dian Ivanov nailed a three-pointer.
The Bearcats continued to pressure the Hilltoppers into turnover during the first half, forcing 14 miscues in the opening period and scored 17 points off of them. Henry led NW Missouri State with 13 first-half points to go along with his six rebounds.
In the second half, sophomore Jannik Zimmer started things with a three-pointer out of the halftime break. The bucket cut the Bearcat lead to 38-20, with 19:43 remaining in the game.
NW Missouri State, however, pushed the lead back to 46-22, using an 8-2 run over the next three minutes. Matt Withers led the way with four points during the span.
From there, the Bearcats kept the lead above 20 the rest of the way.
Ivanov led the Hilltoppers with 14 points, going 4-of-6 from the field, while hitting two shots from behind the arc and making 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Jeff Samuels came off of the bench to score eight points and tallying two steals. Kyle Wakefield registered seven points and dished out two assists. Junior Taylor Mullenax led all Hilltoppers with seven rebounds.
Henry led all scorers with 21 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Eddie Gray notched 14 points, while Andy Peterson led all players with six assists.
The Hilltoppers end their season with a 23-7 record. They produced the third-straight 20-win season. That is most in school history. St. Edward's will also say goodbye to three seniors; Andrew Nagel, Daniel Pierre and Shawn Weinstein. These three guys had a big hand in turning the program into a perennial winner and establishing a new tradition on the Hilltop.