TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team lost 87-84 to Fort Hays State Thursday night inside the NSU Event Center.
 
The loss nearly all but eliminated the RiverHawks (8-17, 7-14 MIAA) from postseason contention, as they are now in solo 13th place and need help to find a spot in the 12-team 2016 MIAA Championship. The Tigers (19-8, 13-8 MIAA) vaulted into a three-way tie for second place in the league.
 
The three leading scorers for NSU all came off the bench, led by 16 each from sophomore guard Montre' Williams and true freshman guard Tanner Mouse. Junior forward KD Moore added 15 points, and senior guard Trey Mohair chipped in 10 points, eight assists, six steals and three blocks.
 
Northeastern State shot 46.9 percent (30-for-64) from the field, 40 percent (12-for-30) from behind the 3-point arc and 85.7 percent (12-for-14) at the free-throw line. Fort Hays State shot 54 percent (27-for-50) overall, 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from downtown and 75 percent (24-for-32) from the line.
 
Dom Samac and Rob Davis paced FHSU with 18 points each. Hudley Gillum added 14 and Craig Nicholson chipped in 11.
 
NSU led in assists (28-7), blocks (8-1), steals (13-7), points in the paint (26-22), points off turnovers (16-7), second-chance points (13-9), fast-break points (15-3), bench points (61-27), and fewer turnovers (14-19). The Tigers led in rebounding (36-30).
 
The RiverHawks are now set for the season finale, which will be against Nebraska-Kearney and will begin at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 27 inside the NSU Event Center. The three seniors (Killven Samuel, Dakota Caudill, Mohair) will be honored prior to tipoff.

-GoRiverHawksGo.com-