Skip To Main Content

Northeastern State University Athletics

The Official Website of Northeastern State University Athletics
Kendrick Thompson
93
Winner Northeastern St. NE 18-10,11-8 Mid-America Intercollegiate
76
Emporia St. ESU 10-17,4-14 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Northeastern St. NE
18-10,11-8 Mid-America Intercollegiate
93
Final
76
Emporia St. ESU
10-17,4-14 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Northeastern St. NE 43 50 93
Emporia St. ESU 32 44 76

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Thompson scores 28 as RiverHawks top Hornets

EMPORIA, Kan. – A big start of the second half and a 28 effort from Kendrick Thompson gave Northeastern State a strong finish to the regular season with a 93-76 win at Emporia State on Thursday evening.

Thompson landed eight three-pointers, two short of the NSU program high, with the RiverHawks hitting a season-best 16 treys on the Hornets. Caleb Smith recorded his third career double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds. Iain McLaughlin had a career-high 19-points, and Aaron Givens scored eight with eight rebounds.

Northeastern State will have to wait until Saturday evening to see where they stand in the MIAA Tournament next week.  They will either play on Wednesday, March 4, or Friday, March 6, at 8:15 p.m. in Kansas City, Mo.

"Anytime you come on the road and win by 15, it's a really good win, especially on this floor," head coach Mark Downey said. "It helps a lot when Kendrick's shooting like that. Hopefully it gives us a little momentum going forward."

A pair of runs of ten straight points the RiverHawks steamrolled the Hornets out of the gates, and they led as many as 16 points (30-14) by the midway mark in the half.  Trailing as many as 19-points with 4:20 left in the half, Emporia trimmed down the NSU lead with five treys in the closing minutes, including one at the buzzer.  Behind 13 points form Thompson and 12 by McLaughlin, the RiverHawks led 43-32 at the intermission. 

Behind three straight treys from Thompson in the second half, NSU went on an 11-0 run on the Hornets and blew their lead out to 58-38 with 14:19 left on the clock.  The RiverHawks never looked back, shooting 64.3-percent in the final 20 minutes.

NSU's defense held the Hornets to 38.8-percent shooting, and they had a 36-34 edge on the glass.

Thursday's win is the largest against the Hornets surpassing the previous mark of 12, which was set in 2005. 

The RiverHawks regular season will end with an 18-10 record and an 11-8 mark in the MIAA.  Emporia State is now 10-17 (4-14 MIAA) end will host Rogers State this Saturday to close out the regular season.
Print Friendly Version