TAHLEQUAH – The NSU men's basketball team returns home for the first time in two weeks Thursday, where they will face off against Missouri Western and closes the homestand Saturday with Northwest Missouri.

Northeastern State (10-10, 7-8 MIAA) has been limited to eight players or fewer available in their previous three games.  On Saturday at Rogers State, NSU was missing nearly 50 percent of its offense and kept the Hillcats within two possessions in the final minutes.  With six games remaining, NSU is inside the cutline for the postseason tournament but holds a narrow one-game lead over Missouri Western, a team they will see Thursday. 

Thursday's contest with the Griffons will be Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night.  The contest will recognize the amazing faculty and staff from all of NSU's campuses, and the Northeastern Activities Board (NAB) will also be in attendance participating in the festivities.  Saturday is this year's Breast Cancer Awareness Game against Northwest Missouri.

Missouri Western (10-12, 6-12 MIAA) snapped a six-game skid last Thursday in overtime (81-80) over Washburn and followed that performance Saturday by beating Emporia State 65-60. On the road this season, the Griffons are 3-7 overall and have dropped its last five contests.  Northeastern State beat Missouri Western 75-73 in the first meeting of the season in St. Joseph and led as many as 24 points. 

Northwest Missouri (21-2, 14-2 MIAA) opens the week on a seven-game winning streak and is a half-game back of Central Oklahoma for first place in the conference standings. The Bearcats are ranked fourth in this week's NABC Poll and have been ranked inside the top 25 for 111 consecutive weeks.  In the last seven games, Northwest has held teams to 48.6 points per game and 37.1 percent shooting from the field.  Northwest will be in Claremore Thursday to face Rogers State before heading to NSU Saturday. 

Christian Cook is fifth in the MIAA in scoring with 17.2 points per game and has landed 875 points in 67 games.   Dillon Bailey has scored at least 11 points in ten of the last 12 games and is ninth in the MIAA, averaging 14.8 points per game.  Tylor Arnold is coming off a career-best 26-point outing at Rogers State Saturday.   The RiverHawks are ninth nationally, shooting 40.7 percent from the arc this season.

Tickets for either game can be purchased on GoRiverHawksGo.com/Tickets or view the game online on The MIAA Network at TheMIAANetwork.com/nsugoriverhawks.