Northwest Missouri State forward Hunter Henry scored a team-high 18 points to lead the Bearcats to a 75-72 win against Pittsburg State Saturday at Bearcat Arena. Henry surpassed the 1,500 career point mark in the process, becoming the sixth Northwest player to do so and the second with 1,500 points and 750 career rebounds.  

Henry, a senior, shared the spotlight Saturday with freshman guard Jake Petersen, who scored a career-high 11 points all in the second half, including six in the final minute. 

With Northwest trailing by one in the final minute, Petersen drilled a three-pointer from the corner, was fouled and completed the four-point play to give Northwest a 72-69 lead. He scored the final points of the game on a fast-break layup with eight seconds remaining. Carlos Taylor missed a chance to tie for Pittsburg State and Mike Larsen pulled down the rebound to seal the win.

The victory ends a three-game losing streak for the Bearcats (10-12, 5-10 MIAA) and keeps the team within reach of an MIAA tournament bid. Northwest currently stands 1.5 games behind Missouri Western for the eighth and final spot. The Bearcats have qualified for 17 consecutive MIAA tournaments.

Pittsburg State (9-13, 4-11) falls a game behind Northwest in 10 th place in the standings. Northwest currently owns the tiebreaker over the Gorillas.

Taylor, the leading scorer in conference play, posted a game-high 20 Saturday. Rodney Grace and Spencer Magana added 17 points each for Pittsburg State.