TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team earned a 93-81 victory over Lincoln Saturday afternoon inside the NSU Event Center.
 
The victory for the RiverHawks (6-13, 5-10 MIAA) pushed the green and white back into a playoff spot, while knocking the Blue Tigers (12-9, 8-7 MIAA) out of the top four of the current conference standings. The win also avenged an 86-61 loss from earlier this season in Jefferson City, Missouri.
 
Junior guard KD Moore led NSU with a season-high 22 points. He was 6-for-7 from the field, 2-for-2 from behind the 3-point line and 8-for-8 at the free-throw line. Senior guard Trey Mohair added 16 points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals, while sophomore guard Montre' Williams chipped in 14 points and senior forward Dakota Caudill added 13 points for the winning cause.
 
Northeastern State shot 51.7 percent (30-for-58) from the field, 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from 3-point land and 72.4 percent (21-for-29) at the free-throw line. LU shot 38.5 percent (25-for-65) overall, 29.6 percent (8-for-27) from deep and 69.7 percent (23-for-33) at the line.
 
Anthony Virdure led all scorers with 24 points. Both Jaylon Smith and O'Shai Clark scored 15, while Richie Lewis added 10 and Aaron Spudich doubled up with 12 points and 11 rebounds. The rest of the Blue Tigers only combined for five points.
 
Northeastern State opened the game with a 20-10 lead after nine minutes of play, but Lincoln immediately went on a 14-3 run to take its first lead of the contest with six minutes remaining in the first half.
 
The RiverHawks were able to close the half strong and went up by nine before settling for a 45-39 halftime lead.
 
The two teams went back and forth in the early parts of the second 20-minute session, and the visitors held a 58-54 advantage at the midway point. NSU battled back and fought to a 67-67 tie. Mohair nailed a three to break the tie at the 6:27 mark, and the home side never trailed again.
 
Northeastern State led in assists (21-11), blocks (9-1), steals (11-8), points in the paint (34-30), points off turnovers (26-13), fast-break points (18-8), bench points (57-17), and fewer turnovers (14-16). Lincoln led in rebounding (42-35) and second-chance points (16-8).
 
NSU returns to action at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 6 against Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma.

NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH JASON TINSLEY
Opening Statement…
"The game was hard-fought by both teams. It was just a grind. This was not the prettiest game, but I thought both teams got after it and competed. We probably had a season high in hustle plays today. We had 54. That's huge for us. That's how you judge your effort and your intensity. I was pleased with that. This was a good win against a very good team. In this league, you take them any way you can get them."
 
On being able to use more players than Lincoln…
"(Lincoln) only plays about seven or eight guys, so one of our keys to the game was to make them go deeper into their bench than what they're used to. We wanted to run the legs out from under them. We had 14 fast-break points in the first half."
 
On the individual performances…
"We got contributions from a lot of players tonight. We had four players in double figures and two more with nine points. KD (Moore) was one shot from a perfect game. He had a solid 22 points, five rebounds and two steals. He did all of that in 14 minutes. (Dakota Caudill) got in foul trouble a little bit, but he made some big shots in the first half and made a lot of free throws. He is the only true post presence that we have, so we need him to play well. Trey (Mohair) has strung together four really solid games now. Montre' (Williams) was only 4-for-9, but he made big 3's when we needed him to. He knocked down a couple of huge momentum changers."
 
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