FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 17, 2007 18th ranked Northwest Missouri too much for Lions, 75-60 Box Score Maryville, Mo. -  The 18th ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats built a double-digit first half lead and avenged an earlier loss to Missouri Southern by defeating the Lions 75-60 Saturday afternoon (Feb. 17) in Maryville, Mo. The loss puts the Lions into a tie for ninth place in the MIAA with Washburn, whom the Lions have beaten twice this season. The Lions played the Bearcats even in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome a 15 point halftime deficit. After the Bearcats scored the first basket of the game, Tyler Ryerson nailed a three-pointer to give the Lions an early 3-2 lead. But that would be the only Lion lead of the afternoon as Northwest went on a 12-4 run to lead 14-7 with 14:19 left in the opening half. After Southern clawed back to within 16-13 on a jumper from T.J. Britton, Hunter Henry scored three consecutive baskets to give the Bearcats a 22-13 lead. Britton then hit a free throw to make it 22-14, but Henry answered with a three-point play to give Northwest a double-digit lead of 25-14 with 8:39 left in the first half. Northwest extended the advantage to 39-24 at the half. The closest the Lions came in the second half was 10 after Deonte Cox hit a layup to bring Southern to within 43-33 with 15:15 remaining in the game. Northwest would then slam the door with a 10-0 run that was highlighted by a layup and a three-point play from Matt Withers that made it 53-33 in favor of the Bearcats with 12:49 left. The Bearcats maintained at least a 13 point lead the rest of the way. Cox led the Lions with 20, including a solid 12-of-15 from the charity stripe. Ryerson added 15 for Southern. Hunter led four Bearcats in double-figures with 20 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Southern shot 40.5 percent (17-of-42) from the floor, compared to a 52.6 percent (30-of-57) shooting clip for Northwest. The Lions will now look to play their way into the MIAA Postseason Tournament by playing their final two regular season contests at home, beginning with the Del Rio Bordertown Battle against Pittsburg State on Wednesday evening (Feb. 21). Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.