EMPORIA, Kan. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team lost 85-65 to Emporia State Saturday afternoon at White Auditorium.
 
The RiverHawks (8-16, 7-13 MIAA) remained in a three-way tie for 11th place in the conference standings with Central Missouri and Missouri Western State, who also lost Saturday. NSU controls its own playoff destiny with two games left in the regular season as the top 12 teams qualify for the MIAA Championship. The Hornets (13-13, 10-10 MIAA) are now in eighth place in the league table.
 
Senior forward Dakota Caudill paced the visitors with 16 points, while senior guards Killven Samuel and Trey Mohair added 11 and 10, respectively.
 
NSU shot 40 percent (22-for-55) overall, 36.4 percent (4-for-11) from behind the 3-point arc and 73.9 percent (17-for-23) at the free-throw line. ESU shot 48.6 percent (35-for-72) from the field, 27.3 percent (6-for-22) from deep and 64.3 percent (9-for-14) at the charity stripe.
 
Charles McKinney led Emporia State with 20 points. Terrence Moore added 17, while Tyler Jordan scored 13 and Jevon Taylor chipped in 10. Kevin Allen pulled down 11 rebounds.
 
Emporia State led in rebounding (43-32), assists (16-12), blocks (5-4), points in the paint (50-34), points off turnovers (19-9), second-chance points (20-12), fast-break points (14-8), bench points (33-27), and fewer turnovers (14-10). The two teams tied with eight steals each.
 
Northeastern State has two games left in the regular season, and both will be played inside the friendly confines of the NSU Event Center. The first tilt will be at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 against Fort Hays State.

-GoRiverHawksGo.com-