Game 12 at Burg Center, Dallas, Texas 
Saturday, Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. | Northeastern State (3-8) at #17 Dallas Baptist (10-1) | Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes

The Series
Northeastern State has faced Dallas Baptist twice, both of which came last season.  This will be the second meeting in a row that NSU has played at DBU, with the Patriots winning 88-56 on their home floor on Dec. 19, 2016.

The Coaches
Mark Downey was introduced as NSU's tenth men's basketball coach on April 11, 2017 and carries a 207-111 overall head coaching record, with four NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances, and has been named Coach of the Year six times.  Downey comes to NSU after two seasons at Fort Wayne (NCAA DI) as the program's top assistant on the bench, and has helped the Mastodons to appearances in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) and the NIT, while going 44-23.  Prior to Fort Wayne, Downey spent the 2014-15 season at Bowling Green where they went 20-12, and he helped direct them into the second round of the CIT.

Blake Flickner is in his 13th season as the Head Basketball Coach at Dallas Baptist University.  He has won 200 games as the head coach at Dallas Baptist University. The 2016-17 season finished with a record of 24-12 and saw the Patriots win the Heartland Conference regular season championship.  Flickner was selected as the Heartland Conference Coach of the Year and the NCCAA Central Region Coach of the Year.

Last time out for NSU
Northeastern State had five players in double-figures with true-freshman Coryon Mason having a career night off the of the bench with 19 points but Arkansas Tech (8-1) out-gunned the RiverHawks (3-8) 100-88 on 18 three-pointers on Tuesday night (Dec. 19) at the NSU Event Center. Josh Bougher was second on the NSU squad with 17 points and had his first double-double of the season with ten boards.

Last time out for DBU
DBU overcame a cold-shooting first half Saturday (Dec. 16) in a 67-59 comeback win at Texas A&M International. Despite shooting 2-13 from beyond the three-point line in the first half, the Patriots made four of their final seven threes and 28 of 35 free throw attempts to pull away from the Dustdevils. 

Tough Slate 
Northeastern State has had to battle against some tough competition in their last six games and including Saturday's contest against Dallas Baptist, NSU's combined opponent record is 48-18 (.727 winning percentage).  With Dallas Baptist added, four of the seven contests will be against an undefeated team or will have one loss on their record.

A win for NSU...

• End a six game skid.
• First win against a ranked opponent since beating #23 UA-Fort Smith 70-65 on Nov. 22, 2016 at the NSU Event Center.
• First win in Texas since Feb. 6, 2010 at Texas A&M-Commerce (72-65). 

A win for DBU...

• Remain perfect at home this season at 6-0.
• Be undefeated against the RiverHawks in three meetings.
• Finish December with a 5-1 record.

Coming Up
Northeastern State returns to MIAA play on Jan. 4 where they will host Lindenwood at 7:30 p.m.