Men split opening weekend at Hillyard Tip-Off Classic

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The Northwest men’s basketball team started its season 1-1 with a split in two weekend games at the Hillyard Tip-Off Classic at Missouri Western in St. Joseph.

The Bearcats lost their season opener to Upper Iowa on Friday, 76-72, and bounced back with an 89-52 victory over Wayne State on Saturday.

Jimmy Roth poured in 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting for Upper Iowa, while Josh Weeber and Jernell Hughes both reached double-digits with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Peacocks took the deciding lead with 38 seconds left in the contest on a three-pointer from Hughes for a 71-68 advantage that they held until the buzzer.

For Northwest, sophomore point guard Justin Pitts led the way with 22 points, followed by junior D’Vante Mosby’s 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Senior guard Conner Crooker also reached double-digits with 12 points.

Game No. 2 for the Bearcats saw a blowout win for Northwest, its first victory of the young season. The 89-52 win was fueled by five different players reaching double-digit point totals, paced by sophomore forward Brett Dougherty inside with 18 on 7-of-8 shooting. Mosby piled up 17 points and added 12 rebounds.

Northwest limited the Wildcats to just 37.9 percent shooting from the floor, including an 18.2 percent clip from deep on 4-of-22 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Bearcats (1-1) will play their third straight road game to open the season at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.