MARYVILLE, Missouri - The No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri State University Bearcat men's basketball team improved to 21-0 on the year with an 82-62 triumph over the Missouri Southern State University Lions on Saturday at Bearcat Arena.Northwest moves to 11-0 in the MIAA. Missouri Southern drops to 17-5 overall and 8-4 in the MIAA. Northwest holds a three-game lead in the MIAA standings over Lincoln (8-3) and Washburn (8-3).The Bearcats turned a four-point halftime advantage into a 20-point win over the visiting Lions. Northwest shot 54.2 percent from the field, despite being limited to 4-of-13 shooting from three-point range. The Bearcats drained 14-of-15 free throws, while the Lions were 9-of-13 at the line.Seniorteamed with a pair of freshmen to carry the offensive load for the Bearcats. Witthus tallied a game-high 28 points and grabbed 10 boards. Redshirt freshmansecured 24 points and handed out a team-high four assists. True freshmannetted 16 points and was 6-of-6 at the free throw line.Missouri Southern was led in scoring by Elyjah Clark with 22 points. Clark knocked in four three-pointers.The Lions leapt out to an 8-0 lead 81 seconds into the contest. Northwest head coachtook a timeout and the Bearcats responded with an 11-2 run to give the home squad an 11-10 lead with 13:57 left in the opening half. The first half featured three ties and nine lead changes. The Lions final lead of the game came at 26-25 on a three-pointer from Clark with 4:27 remaining in the first half. Following a 31-31 tie, Northwest scored the final four points of the half on layups from Hudgins and Witthus to give the Bearcats a 35-31 lead at the break.Northwest pushed its lead to double figures at 51-41 on a layup from Hudgins with 13:53 left in the game. Missouri Southern would get no closer the rest of the way. The Bearcats would lead by as many as 23 after a pair of free throws from Witthus gave Northwest a 79-56 advantage with 2:39 remaining in the game.The Bearcats will travel to Lindenwood on Thursday. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. in St. Charles, Missouri.NOTES: Northwest holds a 33-24 lead in the all-time series vs. Missouri Southern ... Missouri Southern had won the previous two contests between the two schools ... Northwest extended the nation's longest win streak to 21 in a row ... the Bearcats are a perfect 11-0 at home this season ... Northwest is 83-5 over its last 88 home games ... Northwest has won 15 consecutive MIAA games dating back to last season ... it is the second-longest active conference winning streak in the nation ... Northwest is 73-7 in its last 80 MIAA contests - which includes a mark of 39-1 in Bearcat Arena ... Northwest is off to its third-best start in school history.BEST STARTS IN SCHOOL HISTORY31-0 - 1929-3024-0 - 2016-1721-0 - 2018-1920-0 - 1931-3220-0 - 1939-40