WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The RiverHawks led at the half, but a hot start to the second half by Central Missouri downed them 89-82 on the road Thursday night.  

Junior forward Trey Sampson highlighted the night for NSU with a career-high 26 point performance.  He also added six rebounds and three blocks.  Obi Agu got hot late with three straight treys and finished the evening with 19 points, a career-high for the junior from London. 

"The game came down to five or six-minute stretch, and we didn't execute on offense, said head coach Ja Havens.  "We got on our heels and didn't attack well.  They [Central Missouri] got in transition and got some layups, beat us to some loose balls…it was just one stretch that cost us the game."

Troy Locke had 16 points, and Brad Davis was a pair of rebounds short of a double-double with ten points and eight boards. 

After connecting on pair of treys on Saturday at Rogers State, the RiverHawks sank five in the first 20 minutes of play against the Mules.  NSU would lead as many as seven points, but a run of six unanswered points by UCM pulled the teams even with each other.  In the final six minutes of the half, neither team took more than a two-point advantage.  Davis broke a 33-33 tie with a layup before the horn to give NSU a lead at the half for the fourth consecutive game.

Things turned on a dime on NSU quickly in the second half, with Central Missouri not missing on their side of the court and lit up a 27-6 run on the RiverHawks.  At the peak, the Mules scored 12 unanswered points.  

NSU didn't go down quietly and managed to get the game back inside single digits, but the Mules iced the game late at the free-throw line. 

"I'm proud of how we continue to compete at some point we believe it's going to turn," Havens added.  "We're fighting, we're shorthanded, and we're competing, and you can't fault that.  We just have to keep staying with it, believing, and I think good things are going to happen."

"You look at the stat sheet and shoot 59-percent; you are going to win a lot of those."

The loss drops NSU to 2-9 overall, and in MIAA play, Central Missouri moves to 4-8 (4-8 MIAA), with Ja'Cor Nelson pacing the Mules with 23 points.  

Northeastern State remains in Missouri and will head to Lincoln for a contest on Saturday at 3 p.m.  The Blue Tigers are 6-3, 6-3 MIAA and lost to Rogers State in Jefferson City, Mo. on Thursday evening, 82-80. 

NOTABLES -- First time this season NSU wore their green alternate uniform … ninth straight game this season for Davis to score at-least ten points … Locke has scored at least ten in the last seven games … Sampson's 26 points is the highest this season among active NSU players and his second 20 point game… loss snapped a two-game winning streak for NSU over the Mules who lead the overall series 6-4.