TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team lost to Lindenwood 75-69 Thursday night inside the NSU Event Center.
 
The RiverHawks fell to 5-13 overall and 4-10 in the MIAA, while the Lions improved to 14-6 on the year and 10-4 in the league.
 
For just the second time this season, junior guard Mytaa'h Crawford led the team in scoring. He poured in a season-high 16 points in 21 minutes. Senior guard Trey Mohair added 15 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals in 25 minutes, and fellow senior guard Killven Samuel knocked down a pair of triples en route to a 10-point effort.
 
NSU shot 37.5 percent (24-for-64) overall, 24 percent (6-for-25) from behind the 3-point arc and a season-high 93.8 percent (15-for-16) at the free-throw line. LWU shot 54.5 percent (24-for-44) overall, 50 percent (7-for-14) from deep and 74.1 percent (20-for-27) at the line.
 
Cory Arentsen paced the visitors with 29 points, while Brad Newman added 18. No other Lion tallied more than seven points.
 
The RiverHawks led the game in assists (16-13), steals (8-2), points in the paint (34-28), points off turnovers (20-5), fast-break points (3-0), bench points (45-19), and fewer turnovers (7-15). The only categories Lindenwood led in were rebounding (32-31) and blocks (6-5).
 
NSU is now set to close out its four-game homestand with a 3:30 p.m. clash Jan. 30 with Lincoln. The Blue Tigers defeated NSU 86-61 earlier this season in Jefferson City, Missouri.

NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH JASON TINSLEY
Opening Statement…
"We really competed and played hard until the horn went off. We didn't give up or give in, which would have been the easy thing to do when we got down by 15 early in the second half. We battled back. We went on a 10-0 run at one point to get back into it. We took a lead with 3:40 left in the game. I'm proud of our effort. The effort was there. We outscored them in the second half. If we make a few shots in the first half, then that would have changed the whole dynamic of the game. We just didn't make shots."
 
On the performance of Cory Arentsen…
"Credit goes to that kid. We were in his face. We couldn't have been more closer to him, and he made some big shots down the stretch. The only way we could have been closer is if we were both wearing the same uniform. He's calm, cool and collected. He doesn't lose composure. He just rises up and makes shots. He's a phenomenal shooter."
 
On being close time and again against quality opponents…
"Eventually we have to start winning some of these games. We're trying to get into the conference tournament, and the games are dwindling down. We're going to run out of chances to snag one of those spots. We've lost a lot of close games. There's no do-overs. We have to get this one on Saturday (against Lincoln) and we have to go on the road and get a couple. Which is extremely difficult to do in this league."
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-