Dec. 18—Late costly turnovers, a first-half deficit and a 29-point performance by Riverhawk forward Ethan Blackmon proved to be too much for the Missouri Southern men, who fell 79-81 to visiting Northeastern State in an MIAA game on Tuesday at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
The Riverhawks outscored the Lions 16-6 in the first 4:27 of the game, until Southern’s Martin Macenis connected with a trey at 15:13 to pull MSSU within seven, at 9-16.
A Tyrique Brooks layup at 14:17 pared the deficit to five at 13-18 at the 14:17 mark. A Jaden Taylor free throw got the Lions within four at 17-21 with 11:56 left and MSSU closed the gap to two at 34-36 on a Tyriqe Jackson trey at 3:31.
The Riverhawks (7-4, 2-1) closed out the half, outscoring Southern 7-2 down the stretch to go into the locker room leading 43-36.
Isaiah Atwater pulled the Lions to within two at 45-47 with a three-pointer at the 16:27 mark of the second half and Jackson tied the game at 49-49 with a short jumper at 15:21.
Southern managed to open up a five-point lead at 10:28 off a Justin Duff trey and extended the lead to seven at 9:43 on a Macenis score in the paint.
The Lions (5-6, 1-2) maintained a lead until two Blackmon free throws at 4:40 pulled NESU within three at 65-68. NESU regained the lead at 3:02 off a Trey Phipps free throw that gave the Riverhawks a 71-70 lead.
A pair of Sam Thompson free throws gave the Lions back the lead at 72-71 with 2:29 left, but NESU regained the lead off a Blackmon layin at 1:43 and hung on for the 81-79 win.
Lion head coach Sam McMahon reflected on the loss after the game.
“I thought we lost the game in the first half, to be honest,” McMahon said. “The game isn’t won or lost by one person, it’s won or lost by our whole team. I was frustrated by our lackadaisical handling of the ball — not using two hands, passing with one hand and not being sure. It’s frustrating, but we are going to learn and grow from it. I’m proud of our guys’ effort. They just need to make better decisions when they are tired.”
Macenis led Southern with 20 points. Brooks logged 11 points and nine rebounds; Jackson, Taylor and Thompson each netted 10 for the Lions.
Along with Blackmon’s 29 points and 11 rebounds, the Riverhawks got 16 from Phipps, 13 from Keon Edwards and 12 from Bryson Smith.
The Lions play their final game of 2024 when they host Avila (Kansas City) for a nonconference matchup at 6 p.m. Thursday at Leggett & Platt.
