The 13th-ranked Missouri Southern men's basketball team held strong down the stretch as the Lions took out the visiting RiverHawks of Northeastern State 65-62 on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Southern (16-3, 9-1 MIAA) was led by Cam Martin as the junior scored 18 points and added 14 rebounds, three assists and five blocks. Elyjah Clark had 13 points and eight boards, while Braelon Walker and Kinzer Lambert scored ten points each.
NSU (14-7, 7-5 MIAA) had two score in double-figures, led by 21 points from Kendrick Thompson.
Southern jumped out to an 8-2 lead after a layup from Clark with 17 minutes left in the first half, but the RiverHawks tied it at 13 with 13:03 left. NSU took a 26-20 lead after a three pointer with six minutes left and led 31-26 with 1:36 left in the half, but a pair of freebies from Clark cut the lead for the RiverHawks to 31-28 at the half.
NSU led 35-30 with 18:44 to go in the 2nd half, but an 8-0 run for the Lions, capped by a dunk from Lambert with 16:25 left in the half gave Southern a 38-35 lead. NSU went ahead 44-40 with 12:49 left in the game, but a three from Walker the next trip down got the Lions within one.
The RiverHawks led 48-43 with nine minutes to go and led again 50-47, before Southern went on a 5-0 run and led 52-50 capped with a three from Clark with 4:27 to go. NSU led again at 56-54 with three minutes to go and 58-57 with just more than two minutes left, but a layup from Reggie Tharp with 1:56 left put Southern on top 59-58 and the Lions wouldn't look back.
Clark and Martin made a pair of free throws late to seal the win for the Lions.
Southern shot 83 percent from the free throw line in the game and forced 13 NSU turnovers, scoring 14 points off of the miscues.
The Lions will be back in action this weekend as Southern plays host to Rogers State. Tip off is set for 3:30 pm.
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