Northwest Missouri State 85, Lincoln 66

MARYVILLE, Mo. — Shaneel Narayan scored a season-high 22 points and handed out 11 assists to steal the show in Northwest Missouri State’s 85-66 win against Lincoln Friday at Bearcat Arena. Narayan’s 11 dimes are tied for the second-most in program history.

Northwest point guard DeShaun Cooper picked up two fouls in the first two minutes, but it set the stage for Narayan who had eight points and eight assists in the first half. Northwest scored 47 points in the first half and took a 16-point lead into the break.

Lincoln (2-8, 0-6 MIAA) got within 11 points five minutes into the second half, but consecutive 3-pointers on three possessions for Narayan quickly pushed the lead to 18. His fourth 3-pointer in a span of five minutes capped a 16-2 run that put the game out of reach. Narayan was 5-of-7 from long range. As a team, Lincoln was 5-of-17.

The Blue Tigers placed four in double-figures, but made 23 of 70 shots (33 percent). Leading scorer Pierre DeClue led Lincoln with 15 points, but was 5-of-21 from the field.

Northwest’s leading scorer, Elijah Allen, was also saddled with early foul trouble, but contributed 10 points and seven rebounds in the second half. He finished with 13 and eight. Dillon Starzl came off the bench to score a season-best 16 points, grab five rebounds and block two shots.

It was the first game in nearly two weeks for both teams. Northwest (3-7, 1-5) ended a string of six losses, the program’s longest skid in the last 35 years. The Bearcats wrap up a three-game home stand Wednesday against Missouri Western.
# # #