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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team became the final team to suffer a conference loss as Missouri Southern State handed the RiverHawks an 80-65 defeat Saturday afternoon inside the NSU Event Center.
 
NSU dropped to 10-3 overall and 5-1 in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association, while the Lions jumped to 11-2 on the year and 5-1 in the league.
 
Senior guard Bryton Hobbs, the MIAA's leading scorer, led with 20 points. Junior forward Jeremy McDonald reached a season-high 14 points, while junior guard Dalen Qualls scored 12 and junior forward Curtis Evans added 11.
 
The RiverHawks were held to 36.5 percent shooting (19-for-52), which tied their lowest output of the season. The team shot 35 percent (7-for-20) from behind the three-point line and 71 percent (20-for-28) at the free-throw line. MSSU hit 50 percent (28-for-56) from the field, 46 percent (6-for-13) from distance and 75 percent (18-for-24) at the charity stripe.
 
The Lions led in rebounding (43-25), points in the paint (34-14), points off turnovers (13-9), second-chance points (17-6), bench points (32-16), and assists (17-10).
 
MSSU was led by Slim Magee, who came off the bench to post 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Talbert also tallied 14 points, while Marquis Addison and Cameron Cornelius added 10 apiece.
 
Northeastern State took an early 13-6 lead in the contest, but a 17-5 run by the Lions allowed the visitors to pull ahead 23-18 with 7:23 left in the first half. Missouri Southern stretched its lead to 38-30 by halftime and NSU never got within eight points in the second half.
 
This marked the fourth-straight game that Northeastern State trailed at halftime.
 
The RiverHawks will now travel to Maryville, Mo., for a makeup game with Northwest Missouri State at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13.
 
Scoring Summary
Missouri Southern State      38        42         80
Northeastern State              30        35         65
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH LARRY GIPSON
Opening Statement…
"We got beat by a superior basketball team. They whipped us in every way possible. They were physically and mentally tougher than us, and they were emotionally more ready to play. It's like getting into a fist fight. They hit us two or three times and we didn't want any more of the fight. We bucked up a little bit in the latter third of the second half, but we really didn't put up a fight. A big issue our team needs to come to grips with is that, if we do not defend, we are not going to beat good teams in this league. We are not a good defensive team right now, and that really bothers me."
 
On the size of Missouri Southern…
"They are one of those rare teams… (Greg) Renfroe is just a big, burly guy that is capable of catching it low and scoring. Slim Magee is a handful. There are not many teams that have a 6-foot-9 starting center and can back it up with a 6-foot-11 kid who are both skilled. Marquis Addison also requires so much of your attention. They are a well balanced team and are arguably the best team we have played this year."
 
On the lack of offense…
"Obviously Bryton Hobbs is an excellent player and deserves a lot of attention, but we've got other good players, too. We need to execute better. This team knocked us off our screens, they were physical with us and they didn't let us make easy cut. We weren't determined enough to stay in our offense. If there is any positives to this, hopefully we can learn that this is the way you need to play and we need to be a little more focused and determined come game time."
 
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