TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State will look to keep its postseason chances alive Saturday when they will travel to (10/9) Central Oklahoma. 

The RiverHawks (10-13, 7-12 MIAA) are tied with Central Missouri for the tenth and final transfer spot for the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City.  Missouri Western is a half-game ahead in ninth place with four games left to play.  NSU and UCM have three games left on their schedule and will face each other next Saturday in the regular season finale in Tahlequah. 

Injuries have not been kind for the RiverHawks; they have been limited to eight players or fewer available in their previous six games, all losses.    Northeastern State's offense heated up too late Wednesday night as a late rally came up empty in a 79-74 loss at Newman. Dillon Bailey stepped up for NSU with a career night scoring 33 points on 12-for-19 shooting.  NSU trailed as many as 17 with 8:19 left in regulation before they shot 8-for-12 the rest of the way, sinking four three-pointers in that span. 

Central Oklahoma (22-3, 16-3 MIAA) is a game back of Northwest Missouri for first place in the MIAA standings.  The Bronchos can finish no further back than second in the standings and are 13-1 inside Hamilton Field House this season. 

In the first meeting this season, NSU had a lead at the half, but Central Oklahoma second chance points and turnovers proved too much to overcome for Northeastern State in a 74-65 setback.  The Bronchos out-scored the RiverHawks 27-to-9 on the offensive glass and NSU miscues.

Christian Cook is seventh in the MIAA in scoring with 16.5 points per game and has landed 896 points in 69 games.   Dillon Bailey has scored at least 10 points in all but six of the 23 games played this season and is ninth in the MIAA, averaging 15 points per game.  Despite the recent offensive woes in recent weeks, the RiverHawks are second in the MIAA, shooting 48.3 percent from the field. 

Central Oklahoma leads the overall series 104-61 and is 56-23 when hosting Northeastern State.

Tip-off is slated for 3:30 p.m. fans can watch the game online on The MIAA Network at TheMIAANetwork.com/nsugoriverhawks.  An NSU audio broadcast is available on GoRiverHawksGo.com/coverage.