KEARNEY, Neb. – Kendrick Thompson and the bench carried RiverHawks Thursday evening to a critical 74-63 road win at Nebraska-Kearney.  

NSU handed the Lopers only its second home loss in 13 games this season to pull back ahead of them in the MIAA standings by a half-game.   With two games left in the regular season NSU holds a 10-7 MIAA mark, the Lopers who will host #23-ranked Rogers State this Saturday will go to 9-7 in league play.

Thompson recorded his 11th 20-point game this season to pace NSU with 25-points.  Brad Davis had 12, and Aaron Givens added ten with a pair of blocks.  The RiverHawks' bench had 41-points its most against an NCAA program this season and tied for the second-highest total overall.

It was also a redemption win for NSU who looked to redeem themselves for an 83-79 overtime loss to the Lopers a month ago inside the Event Center. 

Both offenses struggled to get going out of the gates with the Lopers missing their first ten three-pointers of the evening, and Thompson accounted for nine of NSU's first 16 points through the first ten minutes of play.   With seven minutes left in the half, UNK pulled within three, trailing 21-18.  

Thompson sparked a run of 11 unanswered points with his fourth trey of the night, then grabbing a steal in the ensuing procession for a layup.  Givens followed up with six straight points to give NSU a 32-18 lead on the Lopers.   Daniel Dotson finished the half with back-to-back treys for NSU to take a 38-28 advantage into the locker room; they finished the final seven minutes on a 17-5 run. 

The Lopers opened the second half with a 7-1 run to cut NSU's lead back into single digits, but it would be all RiverHawks the rest of the way, or at least it looked that way.  With 6:40 remaining NSU led by 22 points but the Lopers bit hard into the advantage and went on a 17-4 run.   By the 3:36 mark, UNK pulled back within seven of the RiverHawks to make it a ballgame once again.  Kearney would fade to the finish, and 6-1 run by NSU was enough to pull them ahead to ice the game.

Northeastern State finished the night shooting 50-percent on the floor while holding the Lopers 36.7-percent shooting.   On the glass, the RiverHawks held a 36-31 advantage. 

NSU is now 17-9 overall, holding its best win total since 2013.  The Lopers drop to 15-10 overall. 

"We're a work in process, and you want to be playing your best at the end of the year," said head coach Mark Downey following the contest.  "We made enough plays; we made enough free-throws, we made some big plays when we had to."

Northeastern State remains on the road to face Fort Hays State this Saturday at 4 p.m.