Missouri Southern (9-8, 4-5 MIAA) came into this week in a tough place after falling into a small losing streak following the emotional rivalry win over Pitt State on Jan. 16.  

With three losses in a row and teams around the conference pulling away in the win column, the Lions looked to get back to their winning ways as they took on Northeastern State (14-4, 7-3 MIAA) at the Legget and Platt Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.

Northeastern got off to a hot start with points in the paint and jumped out to an early lead with the Lions struggling to hit shots from the floor. The Lions stayed cold for most of the game and could only manage 31 percent shooting on the night.  

But as the first half ran its course, the Lions clawed back into the game, pulling to within three with just over seven minutes left in the opening half, helped in large part by the play of Jordan Talbert who led the team in points and rebounds on the night with 18 and 11 to grab himself a double-double.

Still it was never enough,  as that was the closest the Lions could manage to get after making the opening basket of the game to take a two-point lead.  

The RiverHawks lead went as high as 14 in the first half and 24 in the second due largely because of the Lions sloppy play and bad turnovers putting them in a hole they could not dig themselves out of, and at the half, Southern was down 31-21.

As the second half started it was more of the same, with the Lions getting beat to the punch by Northeastern on the boards and in the paint, where they were outscored 30-18.  

As the game seemed to be slipping away, Coach Corn did his best Bobby Knight impersonation, drawing a technical foul after a series of tough calls culminating in a questionable whistle by the baseline referee.

Corns’ effort had an effect, but only for a few minutes as the Lions simply could not hang with the RiverHawks.  

Southern fought hard down the stretch but in the end it just wasn’t the Lions night as they fell to Northeastern 54-73.

A season on its second leg is not over, and with a talented Southern squad ready to get back into action on Thursday night when they travel to Washburn, its prime time to show what they are made of with their backs are against the wall and start a streak in the positive direction.