RiverHawks Bounce Angelo State, Advance to Semifinals

BARTLESVILLE, Okla.  -   Northeastern State behind Dominique Gaines, Jason Jones, Antoine Branch and a smothering defense the RiverHawks avenged an early season loss to Angelo State with a 66-58 win in the quarterfinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament.

The RiverHawks, who are now 20-8 advance to the 6 p.m. semifinal game against Midwestern State (26-2), the LSC's South Division No. 1 seed at Bartlesville High School's Bruin Field House. Midwestern defeated Southwestern State 77-65 to advance.

Northeastern State, the No. 2 seed in the North Division, never trailed in the game, opening the contest with three consecutive 3-point shots. Jones hit the first trey, who finished with 15 points, followed by Marlon Burnett, who scored eight points, and Branch, who scored 14 points in jumping out to a quick 9-2 lead.

Concerning the RiverHawks quick start Northeastern State head coach Larry Gipson said, "I thought we opened the game very focused and ready to play and got off to a good start.

"Our players deserve a lot of credit, we executed our game plan. Coach (Scott) Reed has done an excellent job of scouting for us and we were prepared for everything that Angelo State ran against us.

"We felt like we needed to turn the game into a grinder. They are an extremely explosive team. I told our kids going into the game our best offense was our defense. I think we did a good job in taking care of the basketball.

"They (Angelo) are a team that scores in the 80s and we held them with the good combination of good defense and offensive play," said Gipson.

The River Hawks held a 34-24 lead at the half on the strength of Gaines, who scored 11 of his game-high 27 points. The junior drained 9-of-19 field goals and 9-of-14 at the free throw line, while pulling down 10 rebounds for a double-double, his second of the season and dished-out 6 assists.

"The last couple of games I've taken shots too early and the best way we could beat them was to run some time off the clock before I shot," said Gaines. "I just let the game come to me."

Gipson was pleased with Gaines' play saying "Dominique was excellent. He did an excellent job of getting the ball into the heart of their defense and kicking it out to Jason. He's a very good one-on-one player and tough to handle. "

Jones also got into the double-double act, going along with his 15 points; he grabbed 10 rebounds for his 12^th double-double of the season.

"Jason (Jones) made a lot of big shots from an offensive stand point," said Gipson "For two years now Jason has been a workhorse for us. I think he's the best big guy in the league. Certainly the best defender in the league. He's a handful.

"We have a pretty good inside outside combination with Jason and Dominique," said Gipson.

Jason said it was one of the more physical games he had been involved in all season. "We had some physical games this year, but this defiantly was tough. They came ready to play. But we just have to be more physical," said Jones.

The RiverHawks held the Rams to just 31 percent shooting (24-of-76) and the LSC's leading scorer,LaMarshall Corbett, who entered with a 24 point  scoring average, to just 7 points, all in the second half. Corbett was 0-for-14 in the opening 20 and finished 2-of-18 for the game.

Gaines, who was given the assignment to stop Corbett, the South Division Player of the Year, said "I just tried to stay in front of him. We didn't want him to get any transition baskets. I want to keep him moving to his left "said Gaines.

"There are just a handful of athletes in the Lone Star who can stay in front of him (Corbett) and Dominique is one of them," said Gipson. "Until he got into foul trouble he did an excellent job."

NSU went into a scoring slump at the opening of the second half as the Rams cut the River Hawks lead to 8 points before taking a 12-point lead twice in the final 20 minutes, the last coming with 3:40 remaining 59-47. Northeastern's largest lead of the contest came at 11:14 of the second half 48-35 on a layup by Gaines, who had five traditional 3-point plays in the game.

Angelo State cut the RiverHawks lead in half, 62-56 on a Corbett jumper with 2:30 left; the closest the Rams would com the rest of the contest.

Stavon Williams led the Rams' scoring with 24 points as NSU held the Rams to just 31 percent from the field (24-of-76) as Angelo State completed its season at 17-11.

Angelo State head coach Fred Rike said "I felt we got out-played today in every phase of the game. We lost our composure several times and I was not pleased with how we finished the game.

 "They (NSU) did what they are good at. They run the shot clock all the way down and make you make a mistake on defense. They made us pay for our mistakes."

"I thought there were times in the season that we played well, but it's always about playing your best basketball in postseason and it's disappointing to finish this way."