Saturday Division II basketball recap

Dec. 17—Division II basketball programs in the Northwest Missouri area saw three teams claim victories on Saturday.

The lone team to fall on Saturday was a team who looked like they had the moxy to make it a clean sweep for the area, but ultimately fell short in the end. Missouri Western men's basketball ran into the number one scoring team in the MIAA on Saturday in the Washburn Ichabods. Western men fell 83-77 after erasing a 15-point deficit midway through the second half.

16 offensive rebounds and 14 turnovers were two areas that stuck out to head coach Will Martin after the game. Another area that could be a point of emphasis for the Griffs moving forward will be their defense.

"We have to decide that we want to guard for 40 minutes, and I'll take the ownership and I'll take the blame. I'm the head coach." Martin said. "You can't guard for 40 minutes on a Thursday and then decide to guard for 15 to 20 minutes on a Saturday in this league, which is not going to work out for you very well."

As for the Missouri Western women, they tally their third straight win by taking care of the Ichabod women. They win by 20 as sophomore Jayme Jackson scores 20 points in the win. The Griffon Women are starting to look like the team that was picked second in the preseason polls and could vye for a spot in the national rankings sooner rather than later. Western doesn't look like the team a few weeks ago that was in a bit of a rut, losing three in a four-game span before it started its current win streak Candi Whitaker put the slow start out the gate on her shoulders following the win against Washburn on Saturday.

"I have to take a lot of responsibility for that skid. I don't think I was coaching this team hard enough and that's what they needed.They have a lot in the tank, and we've got to continue to pull it out and they will. They're willing to give it, but they are a group where you must pull it out of them.," Whitaker said.

It was also a doubleheader in Maryville, Missouri, as both the men and women from Northwest Missouri State hosted the Emporia State Hornets on Saturday in Bearcat Arena.

Northwest would struggle from beyond the arc, only shooting 1-20 from long range, but were able to slice a 16-point deficit before having to finish the job in overtime, with a 55-48 victory.

The main clause for the comeback was junior guard Molly Hartnett, who tallied a game-high 20 points, six rebounds, and came away with four steals. Another crucial player was redshirt freshman Laini Joseph.

After being down by double digits in the second quarter, a 3-pointer from Joseph would start a 10-1 Bearcat run to end the half. In the third quarter, the Northwest offense found a rhythm, outscoring the Hornets 15-10.

After Joseph secured an offensive rebound to get to the free throw line and tied the ball game up at 46, and Hartnett would be the deciding factor in overtime.

Each team had one double digit scorer, with Hartnett leading all scorers with 20 points.

"It was like a thousand days since I had played, and so it's been amazing to just be on the court with my teammates, it's awesome, it's been great even off the court," Joseph said. "I love them all so much, but it feels good to be able to like, contribute to the game on the court instead of just off the court."

The men would tip off shortly after against the 15th-ranked Hornets. It was a monumental day for senior Wes Dreamer, who collected a game-high 22 points and became only the fifth Bearcat to reach 1,500 points and 700 rebounds.

Dreamers' play, mixed with junior Isaiah Jackson's play, as he was in the contest all 40 minutes and tallied nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

The Bearcats jumped out to a 24-15 advantage with 8:42 left in the first half before the Hornets narrowed the margin to one with an 8-0 run. Northwest would go back and forth on how much they led the rest of the half, but went into halftime up 35-28.

Emporia State would make this a game again, tying it up at 41-41 with 12:44 remaining in the contest. It would become tied again at 59 after the Hornets scored on five consecutive possessions, but Solomon Oraegbu missed a game-tying shot and Bennett Stirtz was the one to get the rebound.

The Bearcats took sole possession of first place in the MIAA standings at 5-1.

Jacob Meikel can be reached at jacob.meikel@newspressnow.com.

Follow him on Twitter @NPNowMeikel.