TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team lost 70-65 to Rogers State Tuesday night inside the NSU Event Center.
 
The RiverHawks (1-3) lost for the second-straight time at home, while the Hillcats (5-0) remained perfect on the year.
 
Junior guard Mytaa'h Crawford led Northeastern State with 14 points, while senior guard Trey Mohair added 12 off the bench.
 
NSU shot 35.9 percent (23-for-64) from the field, 17.4 percent (4-for-23) from 3-point territory and 55.6 percent (15-for-27) at the free-throw line. The Hillcats shot 39.1 percent (18-for-46) overall, 42.1 percent (8-for-19) from distance and 76.5 percent (26-for-34) at the line.
 
J.C. Hartzler led all scorers with 30 points. He had more points from the free-throw line (16-for-18) than every player combined from NSU. Travis Hester added 12 points, while Jeylyn Sharpe poured in 11 and Robert Johnson finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Northeastern State led in rebounds (42-40), points in the paint (26-20), points off turnovers (22-10), fewer turnovers (11-17), assists (13-10), blocks (5-3), steals (7-4), second-chance points (15-5) and points off the bench (33-26).
 
The RiverHawks will remain home for a 2 p.m. contest Nov. 28 against Southwestern Christian University.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH JASON TINSLEY
Opening statement...
"It becomes a worn-out record. Rogers State is very good. There's a reason they're 5-0, but we missed 12 free throws. We missed two layups with less than a minute to go that would have made it a one-possession game. We fouled the best player in the game in the final minute. So much of what happened tonight was self-inflicted. That's not to take anything away from RSU. They're a very good team. But I would like to see how things would have played out if we didn't throw the ball away two or three times and allow them to score those six extra points in the first half. We make a great defensive play and then turn around and give them the ball right back for an easy layup. Let's shoot a respectable percentage from the free-throw line instead of shooting 56 percent. We outscored them in the paint. We outscored them in points off turnovers. We outscored them in second-chance points. We outrebounded them. But we missed 13 shots within 10 feet of the basket and we missed 12 free throws. It's difficult to win when you make mistakes like that."
 
On some positives…
"We had a season-low 11 turnovers. That's been a big emphasis on us lately, and that was much improved. We're better than we were last season. But we play a beast of a non-conference schedule and then we get into the tough MIAA play. So how is better measured? We don't get to play any cupcake teams. Every game we play is going to be tough."
 
On poor shot selection…
"We have players shooting 3-point shots that do not have the range to consistently make shots from that distance. We were 4 of 23 from 3 tonight. That's too many 3's from the wrong people. The only way to stop that from happening is to not play those players, because they're obviously not getting the message. We have to take shots that we're capable of making on a consistent basis."
 
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