PITTSBURG — No. 1 Northwest Missouri State University held Pittsburg State University scoreless for a four minute stretch late in the game to pull away for a 73-62 victory Saturday (Dec. 3) at John Lance Arena/Whetzel Court.

The Bearcats (8-0, 2-0 MIAA) led just 61-58 when Deshaun English II hit a 3-pointers for the Gorillas (3-5, 1-2 MIAA) with 5:36 remaining in the game.

Northwest scored the game's next seven points over 4:20 of game clock to push in front by 10 points, before Pitt State's Quentin Hardrict Jr. broke the scoring drought with a 3-pointer with 1:16 to go.

The late run helped the Bearcats hold off a Pitt State team that shot 54.5 percent from the field (24-44) in the game. Northwest, which shot 54.8 percent from the floor, outscored the Gorillas 23-7 at the foul line. Pitt State made just seven of 16 attempts from the charity stripe, while the Bearcats converted 23 of 31 attempts.

Pitt State led by as many as seven points, 34-27, with 5:03 to play in the first half.

English led all scorers with 19 points, while Hardrict added 17 and R.J. Forney Jr. chipped in with 11.

Bennett Stirtz paced the Bearcats with 18 points and Diego Bernard finished with 14. Stirtz and Bernard combined to go 17 of 21 from the foul line in the game.

Pitt State will travel to Wichita Wednesday (Dec. 7) to face MIAA rival Newman University.