Jones, Gaines Offensive in Win

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. ---  Northeastern State  shut down West Texas A&M's high powered offense to record a stunning 69-62 Lone Star Conference victory Thursday night at Jack Dobbins Field House.

The RiverHawks improved to 7-5 on a 51 percent shooting performance converting 23-of-45 from the field led by 6-7  post Jason Jones, who collected his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 19 points and pulling down10 rebounds.

Jones got plenty of help from Dominique Gaines and Antoine Branch with 18 and 10 points each.

The Buffaloes were held to 36 percent shooting by NSU (21-of-58) and 6-of-28 from behind the arc. Jacquiese Holcombe and Nick Burns scored 17 points each with Chris Tucker adding 16.

"I thought it was a very solid performance," said Northeastern State coach Larry Gipson. "Our defense has been our life line the last few games.  We have been consistent on defense. We are a very good defensive rebounding team, we haven't given up a lot of second shots and a lot of that is due to Jason Jones and the ability of our team to block out."

The RiverHawks held a 13-point lead 48-35 with 11:28 remaining, the largest of the night for the RiverHawks  behind Jones, Branch and Gaines.

West Texas battled back to narrow as the NSU lead to  four points, with a 7-0 run cutting the RiverHawks lead to 48-44 at the 8:40 mark.

But it was Gaines who sparked the RiverHawks and the partisan crowd with a baseline slam dunk over LaDarius Hall for a six-point bulge 50-44 with 8:11 remaining.

West Texas, however, would not quit and fought back to within three points 49-52 with 7:01 left on a pair of free throws by Jacquiese Holcombe, who finished with 17 points to share game scoring honors with teammate Nick Burns.

That was the closest the Buffaloes would come the rest of the contest as Northeastern State held off the Buffaloes with some clutch baskets by Jones, Branch and Gaines.

"If we continue to execute and get the kind of shots we are capable of getting we are going to be a tough team to beat," said Gipson.

West Texas which knocked down 11 treys in their last outing against Panhandle State was held to just six by the RiverHawks.

"We had a good defensive effort by a lot of guys tonight, particularly on Hall, who had five against Panhandle State".

Gipson was pleased with the play of Gaines and Branch, saying, "This was the best overall performance by Dominic Gaines and a very, very solid performance by Antoine Branch. We have a variety of weapons if we utilize them.  We can eventually can become a tough team to defend against.

"And, we are riding Jason (Jones) as far as he'll take us. He has been pretty solid," said Gipson.

The RiverHawks held a 29-21 lead at the half as NSU shot 45 percent from the field (10-of-22) after beginning the game just 1-of-7 from the field.