TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State battled back from down 12 points to take the lead with 7:07 remaining in the second half but Missouri Southern closed the contest on a 24-6 run and was a perfect 8-8. The RiverHawks fell to 2-12 on the season while the Lions moved to 8-6 in the 100-83 setback at the NSU Event Center.

The RiverHawks and Lions exchanged leads 10 times in the first half but MOSO's 68.0 percent shooting from the floor and 20 makes at the free throw line in the first stanza gave them a 59-47 lead at the half. After NSU knotted it with 7:11 remaining MSSU went on a 24-11 run.

NSU splashed in six 3-pointers and shot 47.4 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes. It could not sustain the effort in the second half shooting 38.9 percent and 2-15 from beyond the 3-point line while MSSU continued to find the bottom of the net.

Senior Troy Locke led the RiverHawks with a career-high 22 points and made up for missing the first meeting of the season. He was joined in double figures by Trey Sampson who had his second straight double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Brad Davis nearly notched a double-double himself with 10 points and nine assists.

In the comeback effort, Locke and Daniel Dotson led the charge as Dotson scored six of his nine points while drawing three fouls and Locke was 4-7 in the half.

"Give [Missouri Southern] credit, but we dug back and got the lead," head coach Ja Havens said. "Then just a bad stretch and that's the game when they hit multiple 3's. We put ourselves in position to have a chance there at the end."

"Danny is fighting and competing his tail off and obviously Troy did a good job of putting himself in a position to make plays. I keep believing in this team because I know they are going to fight."

Head Coach @JaHavens on this afternoon's game for @RiverHawksMBB. 

Full Video - https://t.co/eA0tZDLQsl#TeamNSU pic.twitter.com/Mxn5JKj6Kf
— Northeastern State Athletics (@RiverHawkSports) January 31, 2021
 

The Lions were led by forwards Cam Martin with 31 points and 12 rebounds while Lawson Jenkins added 29. NSU's forwards had strong efforts as they allowed just four offensive boards and the team, as a whole, outrebounded MSSU 37-33 and pulled down 14 offensive rebounds.

The RiverHawks held a 16-point advantage on second chance points and assisted on 24 made field goals.

Havens stressed the importance of defensive field goal percentage to his team after allowing 59.3 percent and said he was proud of the way the offense shared the ball.

"We didn't guard enough to come out with a victory but there were stretches," Havens said. "We have gotta find a way to eliminate the dry spells and put a 40-minute effort together."

The RiverHawks are on the road this coming weekend. They visit Emporia State Thursday, Feb.4, at 7:30 p.m. and travel to Washburn Saturday afternoon.

NOTES: 13th double-figure scoring game for Davis this season…10th straight double-digit scoring game for Locke…Ninth game straight with the same starting lineup for the RiverHawks…In Tahlequah NSU is now 13-4 versus MSSU.