RiverHawks Open Division Play With Impressive Win
LAWTON, Okla. -Northeastern State opened Lone Star Conference North Division play in impressive fashion Wednesday night taking a thrilling 70-62 victory over Cameron University on the Aggies home floor.
The RiverHawks with the victory improved to 10-5 for the season and 1-0 in LSC North Division play. It was the Aggies first home court loss of the season as Cameron falls to 10-5 and 0-1. The Aggies were 8-0 at home before the loss to Northeastern State.
Dominique Gaines scored a career high 32 points in leading the RiverHawks offensivee attack. Gaines drained 17-of-21 at the line, 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Marlon Burnett scored 17 points with 9 of his points coming on 3-point shots, in the win. He was nearly perfect at the line canning 6-of-7 from the stripe.
The RiverHawks shot a sizzling 84.2 percent at the free throw line draining 32-of-38 attempts at the stripe.
Northeastern State head coach Larry Gipson termed it a "Lone Star Conference battle royal" in a game that went back-and-forth in the final 20 minutes of play.
"That was just a heck of a game," said Gipson. "It was a hard fought game. To go on the road and win in this environment, I just can't say enough about our kids."
Trailing 25-23 at the end of the first half, the Aggies extended its lead as they held the RiverHawks scoreless for six minutes to open the second half for a 32-23 advantage, the largest Cameron lead of the night, before the RiverHawks scored on a trey by Gaines at the 14:35 mark.
Then it was time for the Gaines, Branch and Burnett show as the trio pulled the RiverHawks back to within a point 36-35. The up-and-down game was tied three times, the last at 46-all on a Burnett trey before the RiverHawks took the lead for good on another Burnett 3-point basket for a 49-46 NSU lead with 8:15 remaining.
Gaines then hit 1-of-2 free throws, followed with a two-hand slam dunk and Burnett added a pair of free throws to give the RiverHawks an 8-point advantage 54-46 with 7:03 remaining.
Cameron came no closer than 3-points the remainder of the way as the Aggies in an attempt to get cut NSU lead, resorted to putting the RiverHawks at the line and NSU responded by converting free throws over the final 2:30 of the contest.
Gaines sank five free throws in the final 48 seconds of play and Branch sealed Cameron's fate by draining two free throws with 11 seconds left.
"This is a huge win for us, but it doesn't mean anything if we can't back this up with a good performance on Saturday afternoon" said Gipson. "I don't foresee very many teams coming in here and getting wins. Cameron is a very good basketball team. I'm happy and it makes a long bus ride easier."
Cameron jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead to open the game before the RiverHawks went on a 19-4 run to take a 19-10 lead with 6:00 left in the half. NSU held the Aggies scoreless for 8-minutes before the Aggies were able to score.
Jones and Gaines fueled the RiverHawks first half scoring attack with 8 and 6 points respectively. During the RiverHawks 19-4 run, Gaines drained back-to-back treys during the offensive burst.
Cameron scored three quick points to make it a 19-13 lead but NSU responded with a pair of free throws by Burnett for a 21-13 lead at the 3:14 mark. However, the Aggies went on a 6-0 run slicing NSU lead to two points 21-19 with 1:23 remaining in the half.
Jones then put NSU back on top by four with a put-back to make it 23-19 with 1:10 remaining, but the Aggies' Dernodo Eiland and Jacquez Williams drained back-to-back treys in the final 23-seconds to lead at the break 25-23.
Neither team shot well in the first half with NSU shooting 33 percent (6-of-18) and the Aggies 31 percent (10-of-32).
Cameron's leading scorer was Milton Garner with 17 points followed by Williams with 15 and Eiland Dernodo 10. The Aggies were held to 31 percent shooting by the NSU defense, while the RiverHawks finished with 37 percent from the field 15-of-40.
Northeastern State returns home to play Southwestern State in a Lone Star Conference North Division clash Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.
