TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team won its second-straight game by defeating Emporia State 76-74 Saturday afternoon inside the NSU Event Center.
 
The RiverHawks improved to 4-9 overall and 3-6 in the MIAA, while the Hornets (6-9, 3-6 MIAA) lost their fourth-straight game. This is the second time during the Jason Tinsley era that NSU has won back-to-back games. The other occurrence came last season when the green and white also took down Washburn and Emporia State in Tahlequah.
 
Junior guard KD Moore led all scorers with 14 points off the bench. Senior guard Killven Samuel added 12 points off the bench, while fellow senior guard Trey Mohair scored 10.
 
Northeastern State connected on 49.2 percent (29-for-59) on shots from the field, 25 percent (3-for-12) from behind the arc and 68.2 percent (15-for-22) at the free-throw line. The Hornets shot 46.4 percent (26-for-56) overall, a season-high 61.1 percent (11-for-18) from distance and just 50 percent (11-for-22) from the charity stripe.
 
Charles McKinney paced the visitors with 14 points, while Terrence Moore added 11.
 
NSU trailed 38-36 at halftime but was able to build a 57-45 lead with 11:28 left in the contest. Emporia State used a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to get back into the game, and the visitors were able to tie the score at 63-63 after a Jay Temaat 3-point shot at the 6:40 mark.
 
Moore converted a layup on the RiverHawks' next possession. They never trailed again, but they also never held more than a five-point lead for the final six minutes as both teams grinded to the finish.
 
Northeastern State outrebounded Emporia State 41-28 and have now posted a +10 or better rebounding margin in each of the last three games (+11 against Northwest Missouri State, +15 against Washburn). This is the first time since the university joined the NCAA in 1996-97 that NSU won the rebound battle by at least 10 in three-consecutive games.
 
The RiverHawks also led in assists (16-13), steals (7-6), points in the paint (46-26), points off turnovers (21-14), second-chance points (20-7), fast break points (14-9), and bench production (42-33). ESU led in only one category with fewer turnovers (14-17).
 
The green and white returns to action with a road trip to Hays, Kansas. Northeastern State and Fort Hays State are scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14.

NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH JASON TINSLEY
Opening statement...
"That was just a hard-fought game by both teams. That was a downright battle, man. The game was ugly at times. I thought both teams just competed. We had to get on our team because our guys thought they could stop rebounding when we changed our offense in the second half. Even though we outrebounded (Emporia State) 41-28, we had a lull there where we didn't get any offensive rebounds. A shot went up and we just ran back on defense. That's not us. We don't teach that. We flat quit going to the offensive glass. We shot the ball from the free-throw line much better in the second half."
 
On Emporia State making a season-high 11 3-point shot attempts…
"We're usually a good defensive team against the 3-point shot within the conference. Not tonight. Across the board, teams have been playing (Emporia State) zone because they shoot just 34 percent from behind the 3-point line, but boy did they shoot the cover off the ball tonight. Because of that, we had to do some other things to offset our poor 3-point field goal percentage defense. We rebounded the ball well. We made free throws and we were very efficient from inside the arc."
 
On having a double-digit rebounding advantage in three-straight games…
"We preach that. I want to score points. I like tempo and all that, but I'm still the kind of coach that understands that you have to guard and rebound. I've been emphasizing being a good rebounding team since I got the job. Our goal has been to be +1 in rebounding every game, and we have been able to exceed that so far this year."
 
On heading out on the longest road trip of the season next week…
"We looked a little tired out there tonight and had a hard time keeping the ball in front of us. But as I tell the team all the time, nobody cares about your woes. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us because we had four-straight road games to start the (conference) season or that we have to go to Hays and Kearney next week. Nobody cares about margin of loss or why you aren't winning. They just want to know if you won or lost. As my wife says, there's no column for almost-won. It's either one or the other. We just have to figure it out and try to win the next game. We'll take tomorrow off and we'll try to get ready to play two games against a couple of beast teams."
 
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