RiverHawks Fall in LSC Semifinals
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - Midwestern State overcame a 14-point lead in the second half to defeat Northeastern State 74-64 in the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament Friday night at Bartlesville High School's Bruin Field House.
Northeastern State committed 22 turnovers in the game, five in the final three minutes, along with missed free throws that cost the RiverHawks.
"It's a disappointing loss," said Northeastern State head coach Larry Gipson. "The team with the better composure, the team that was mentally tougher, and the team that executed down the stretch won the game.
"Midwestern State all year long has been the class of the Lone Star Conference and I didn't see anything tonight that would change my opinion of that. They have an excellent basketball team that is well coached, and organized.
"For 32 minutes we had control of the basketball game, but we are a little bit too inexperienced in these kinds of situations and we just didn't finish the game very well. We were our own worst enemy," said Gipson.
Jason Ebie led the, 6th-ranked Mustangs (27-2) comeback with 22 points, along with Chris Hagan, who added 19 and Anthony Moore's 15.
The RiverHawks (20-9) scoring was led by Antoine Branch with 19 points, followed by Jason Jones and Marlon Burnett with 14 each. Dominique Gaines scored 10.
Northeastern shot 46 percent for the game (20-of-43) but only 33 percent in the second half (7-of-21), after opening the game with a 59 percent shooting performance for a 38-32 lead at the half.
The RiverHawks charged to a 48-34 lead, its largest of the game, with 16:47 remaining when the Mustangs began their charge back. Hagan scored twice making it a 9-point deficit as NSU could manage only three free throws over the next five minutes.
"We were controlling the game," said Jones. "I can't explain why we stopped doing it. It does hurt to see that step-by-step the lead is disappearing at the end of the game. We lost our composure. It just hurts," said Jones.
After a Scott Draughon bucket on a back-door-play, to give the RiverHawks a 10 point advantage 51-41, NSU was held scoreless for three minutes as the Mustangs tied the game at 51-all with 9:01 remaining
Jones regained the lead for the RiverHawks converting three free throws for a 54-51 lead at the 6:20 mark. Following a pair of Mustang free throws and a Burnett layup, Gaines drained a trey and field goal that was sandwiched around an Anthony Moore 3-pointer.That cut the NSU lead to 3 points, 59-56.
Gaines then connected for a 5-point NSU lead. Mustangs' Moore then converted a pair of free throws and Ebie drained a trey to deadlocked the game at 61-all with 2:58 left.
Ebie gave Midwestern State the lead for good when he drained his fourth 3-pointer of the night for a 64-61 Mustang lead.
Northeastern could never overcome the margin as the RiverHawks missed opportunities at the free throw line and the Mustangs cashed-in on their chances at the line.
