KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The beat goes on for the RiverHawks as they thumped Central Missouri 60-49 on Wednesday evening in the opening round of the MIAA Men's Basketball Championship.

Northeastern State stifled the Mules to 34.1-percent shooting, and the 49 points matched a season-low for Central Missouri.   The RiverHawks also matched a 1993 MIAA Tournament record allowing just 13 points in the first half, and earned their first postseason since 2014, where they beat Central Missouri that season. 

Central Missouri got the opening bucket, and NSU scored ten unanswered points, never relinquishing the lead.  The Mules missed their first 15 attempts at the arc but cut a 17 point deficit down to seven with 3:05 left.  

Northeastern State went 1-for-2 in the remaining time, doing all their damage at the free-throw line going 7-for-9.   Rashad Perkins had NSU's only bucket in that span, but it was an exclamation point across court pass dunk to ice the game in favor of the RiverkHawks. 

Perkins was the lone NSU player in double-figures with 13 points, and he led the team with seven rebounds.  Christian Cook and Dillon Bailey had nine, Emeka Obukwelu chipped in eight. 

NSU defense forced 22 Central Missouri (13-14) turnovers while shooting 38.8-percent on the floor. 

Wednesday's win is the third consecutive for the RiverHawks, improving to 16-13.  Northeastern State will have a date Thursday night against top-seed Central Oklahoma.  Tip-off in Kansas City is set for 6 p.m.