ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Northeastern State ran out of time on Saturday, nearly returning from a 24 points deficit  in the second half and dropping its second consecutive MIAA game 93-87 to Missouri Western.   Rashad Perkins set the nets on fire with the best offensive performance for an NSU player since 2014 with 40 points. 

Perkins came off the bench and was 15-for-19 from the field, the most made buckets for a RiverHawks' player under a head coach Ja Havens.  He also had ten rebounds for his first career double-double.

After trailing 85-61 with 9:20 left in the game, the RiverHawks mounted an improbable run on the back of Perkins, who had 11 points in the 26-11 run to finish the night.  A three-pointer from Brad Davis with 1:25 left cut the deficit to nine as NSU forced two critical turnovers to trim the Griffons lead to 92-87 with 16 seconds remaining.  

Following an Edra Luster free throw with 11 seconds to go Jaxon Jones forced a steal to give NSU another chance to cut further into the Missouri Western lead. The RiverHawks would take one more shot at the arc, but a Griffon defender would block the attempt to seal the win for Missouri Western. 

The RiverHawks were 55.4-percent on 31-for-56 shooting, with Christian Cook having 15 points and Emeka Obukwelu added 11.   Sixteen turnovers and a 13-1 start by Missouri Western proved to be too much to overcome, with the Griffons out-scoring NSU by 13 with 23 points off miscues.

Missouri Western (6-4, 2-0 MIAA) had six players in double-figures to drop NSU to 5-3 (0-2 MIAA). 

Northeastern State returns home to host Pittsburg State this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for their final home contest in 2021.