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PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team dropped an 87-73 decision to Pittsburg State Wednesday evening inside John Lance Arena.

The loss for the RiverHawks (6-17, 4-12 MIAA) saw the team fall back into a tie for 12th place in the MIAA standings alongside Emporia State. One of the two teams will be the 12th and final team that qualifies for the MIAA Championship tournament at seasons' end. NSU holds the tiebreaker over the Hornets due to a season sweep over ESU. The Gorillas (16-8, 12-4 MIAA) moved into a three-way tie for first place in the league standings with Central Missouri and Northwest Missouri State.
 
NSU used a balanced attack against PSU that saw six players score at least nine points. Senior guard Keon Littleton and junior guards Demone Harrison and Trey Mohair led the way with 12 points each. Senior guard Amir Gilliam posted a career-high 11 points.
 
Northeastern State shot 41.5 percent (22-for-53) from the field, 27.3 percent (6-for-22) from behind the 3-point line and 79.3 percent (23-for-29) at the free-throw line. Pitt State shot 57.8 percent (26-for-45) overall, 43.8 percent (7-for-16) from distance and 75.7 percent (28-for-37) at the charity stripe.
 
Josiah Gustafson led all scorers with 25 points. Trey Starks added 18 points off the bench, while Dakota Jones contributed 11 and Trevor Gregory and Devon Branch both scored 10. Connor Kjer only had four points, but he hauled in 11 rebounds.
 
Pittsburg State led 30-28 at halftime, but the RiverHawks were able to take a 45-44 lead with 13:51 remaining in the contest.
 
NSU stayed close as PSU led 52-51 with 10:26 to play, but the Gorillas used an 18-5 run over the next four minutes to stretch their lead to 17 points. Northeastern State was able to cut the deficit back down to six points with 1:18 remaining, but the home team held on for the 14-point victory.
 
The RiverHawks led in rebounds (33-24), steals (6-5) and points off turnovers (15-13).
 
The RiverHawks will begin their final three-game home stand to close out the season at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 21 against rival Central Oklahoma inside the NSU Event Center.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH JASON TINSLEY
Initial Statement…
"We had a chance to come in here and beat these guys. We started the second half off slow and did a poor job of keeping Pitt State from making shots. One of our keys to the game was closing out on shooters to take away the jump shot. We have to understand that then they are going to drive on us and we did a poor job of staying in front of the ball in the second half. A lot of our turnovers were not their defense, they were on us. But, we were 17 down with 4:56 to play and we cut it to six with 1:18 to play. We didn't give up and I'm happy about that."
 
On team positives...
"We outrebounded them. I take a lot of pride in my teams defending and rebounding well. This team has struggled to do those things at times this year. We're a six-win team that should have more wins. It doesn't help matters that we only have nine guys on our team. In the first half tonight though we did a good job of defending and rebounding."
 
On individual performances...
"Amir Gilliam had a good game, his stat line was the kind of game he needs to play all the time. Keon Littleton had 12 points and seven rebounds. Dakota Caudill didn't score against these guys last time, but he had a good game tonight when he was on the court."
 
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