TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State will make its eighth trip to the MIAA Tournament Wednesday, where it will have its second-ever postseason meeting with Missouri Southern.

The RiverHawks (12-14) will come into the tournament as its No. 10 seed, with Missouri Southern as the No. 7 seed. 

Since 2013 when the tournament was expanded beyond eight teams, the No. 10 seed is 3-9 overall but has won the last three matchups.  The RiverHawks last faced the Lions in the 2020 Tournament in a three vs. six seed meeting, with (3) MSSU handing (6) NSU a 96-60 loss.  

In the first meeting this season, Northeastern State could not recover from a cold shooting first half and fell 75-67 in Tahlequah.  Christian Cook recorded his sixth 20-point performance of the season with a game-high 23 points, and Rashad Perkins had 21 points.  Foul trouble limited Dillon Bailey to 18 minutes as he finished the night with nine points.

Northeastern State won its final two games of the regular season and dismantled Central Missouri with a 39-point win Saturday in the NSU Event Center to clinch a postseason berth.  Christian Cook is eighth in the MIAA in scoring with 16.1 points per game and has landed 936 points in 71 games.   Dillon Bailey has scored at least 10 points in all but six of the 26 games played this season and is ninth in the MIAA, averaging 15.5 points per game.  The RiverHawks are second in the MIAA shooting 48.2 percent as a team. 

Missouri Southern (16-12) enters the tournament on a three-game skid and has lost five of its previous seven contests.  The Lions share its offense with three players averaging over ten points per game.  Ndongo Ndaw is second in the MIAA with 39 blocks and is eighth with 6.6 rebounds per game. 

The Lions lead the series 28-19 over Northeastern State and have won the last four meetings.

Fans can watch the game on The MIAA Network at TheMIAANetwork.com or listen live on GoRiverHawksGo.com/coverage.