Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University football team's comeback bid fell just short on Saturday afternoon, dropping the game against Northeastern State 17-22. The Bearcats had strong individual performances on both offense and defense, but were unable to pull out the victory.

The Riverhawks were the first to get on the scoreboard in the first quarter. After a fumble on a Northeastern State punt, the Riverhawks used the short field to kick a 44 yard field goal to go up 3-0. The Bearcats soon responded with a field goal of their own when John Colliver hit a 24 yard field goal with 00:33 seconds left in the first quarter to tie the game up at 3-3. Northeastern State would add a touchdown in the second quarter to take a 10-3 lead heading into halftime.

In the second half the Bearcats drove 75 yards on the opening drive, and finished it off with a 14 yard touchdown pass from Dan Connors to Derwyn Lauderdale to tie the game up at 10-10. The score would remain tied for the remainder of the third quarter before Northeastern State would score another touchdown, but miss the extra point, to take a 16-10 lead. The Bearcats quickly responded with on the following possession. Chris Muhammad returned the kickoff 40 yards, giving SBU excellent field position. Connors then hit Lauderdale with his second touchdown of the day on a 35 yard pass to take the 17-16 lead. However, Northeastern State would punch it into the endzone with 01:25 remaining in the game to claim a 22-17 victory.

Dan Connors played an effective game from the quarterback position, throwing for 275 yards with 2 touchdowns. Lauderdale had an excellent game, hauling in a game high 16 catches for 125 yards and two scores. Defensively the Bearcats were led by Jameson Manuma and Shaquille Shedd who both had 10 tackles, while Manuma also forced a fumble.

The Bearcats will hit the road next weekend when they take on Central Oklahoma. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. from Edmond, Oklahoma on Saturday, November 3.