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RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team suffered a 99-87 setback to Ouachita Baptist Saturday afternoon on the final day of the Arkansas Tech Thanksgiving Classic inside Tucker Coliseum.
 
The RiverHawks (1-5) have now lost four in a row and are off to the worst start to a season since 2011-12, when the team began the year 0-6. The Tigers improved to 4-1.
 
Senior guard Michael Harmon carried NSU with a career-high 36 points in the losing effort. He knocked down six 3-point shots and was an efficient 11-for-20 shooting from the field. Senior guard Keon Littleton added 13 points, while freshman guard Montre' Williams scored 11 and junior guard Trey Mohair chipped in 10.
 
Tirrell Brown paced the Tigers with 33 points on 13-of-14 shooting. He also pulled down eight rebounds and added four steals in 32 minutes. Justin McCleary hit five 3's to add 18 points, while Colt Fason posted 14 points and nine rebounds and Micah Delph scored 13.
 
Northeastern State shot 51.7 percent (30-for-58) from the field, 48.5 percent (16-for-33) from behind the 3-point line and just 61.1 percent (11-for-18) at the free-throw line. Ouachita Baptist scorched the nets at a 62.5 percent scoring clip (35-for-56), which was the highest conceded by NSU this season. The Tigers were also 62.5 percent shooting (10-for-16) from downtown and 79.2 percent (19-for-24) from the charity stripe.
 
Harmon made a layup at the 17:38 mark of the first half to give Northeastern State an 8-5 lead, but OBU went on a 16-0 run and never looked back. The RiverHawks cut the lead down to just four points midway through the second half, but Ouachita Baptist propelled its lead back out to 17 points and held on for the 12-point victory.
 
OBU led in rebounds (31-26), steals (12-6), blocks (2-0), points in the paint (44-22), fewer turnovers (12-19) and points off turnovers (21-9).
 
Ouachita Baptist scored 43 points in the first half and 56 points in the second half. The final 20 minutes marked the most an opponent has scored against NSU this season. The RiverHawks have also now allowed opponents to score at least 40 points in one half nine times this season (out of 12 total).
 
Northeastern State will attempt to snap its four-game losing skid with the beginning of MIAA play. NSU is set to entertain Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4 inside the NSU Event Center.

-GoRiverHawksGo.com-