TAHLEQUAH – Kendrick Thompson drilled a go-ahead three-pointer with 13 seconds remaining to beat Emporia State 69-67 on Saturday afternoon inside the Event Center. 

Playing in this final game at home, Thompson paced the RiverHawks with 28-points and was three assists short of a double-double.  

NSU shot a season-low 32.8-percent from the field after making 20-of-61 of their shots. Heading into Saturday's game under head coach Mark Downey, when shooting worse than their foe, the RiverHawks are 3-35.  Luckily for NSU, they beat that stat. 

The win moved NSU's MIAA record at 9-7, and after Saturday's games, they are a half-game back of Nebraska-Kearney and Washburn, who is tied for fifth in the conference standings.  NSU is looking to crack the top-six in the league to avoid and opening round tournament contest. The RiverHawks did clinch themselves a postseason berth into the MIAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. 

"We defended them, we just didn't play very well offensively," said Downey.  "We had 10 minutes there where we just played lights out offensively, and it got us over the hump. Again, we have to get to where we're playing 35-plus minutes well offensively. Our guys are capable of it but we're still looking for that fire in a bottle."

Caleb Smith finished as NSU's second-leading scorer with 17 points and added five rebounds. 

After a slow scoring start by both teams, Emporia would pull ahead 16-7 on the RiverHawks at the midway mark of the first half. The lead flipped hands six times in the half with Smith and Thompson, both pacing the RiverHawks with ten points. A three-pointer by the Hornets before the halftime horn cut the NSU lead to 29-28. 

A run of 17 unanswered points and the hot-hands of Thompson shifted the momentum for NSU early in the half. Thompson would make 8-of-9 on the floor to pull NSU out as far as 18-points by the 15:20 mark.  The Hornets were not out of it and at 14-3 run put them back in the game.  With 2:29 left, Emporia would manage to pull even with the RiverHawks at 63-63.  

Both teams traded free throws before the Hornets pulled ahead 67-66 following a jumper with 41-seconds left in the game.   With an opportunity to take the lead, the RiverHawks came up on the positive end of a pair of offensive boards to set up Thompson's dragger to give them the win.

"My thought process was I just wanted to get a good shot, and I felt like my step-back is one of my
Strengths," said Thompson, following the game.  "The guy gave me the chance to take it, so that's what I did, and I made the shot. The basketball gods were with me today."

The win moves NSU to 16-9 overall, while Emporia State falls to 10-14 and 4-11 in the MIAA with the loss.

Northeastern State will be on the road for the final three games of the regular season.  They will head to Nebraska-Kearney next on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.