RiverHawks Open LSC North Division Play at Cameron
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - Northeastern State has completed its non-conference and Lone Star Conference crossover games and gets down to business with a "new season" when the RiverHawks open LSC North Division play Wednesday night.
The RiverHawks hit the road to Lawton to battle the Cameron Aggies at 8 p.m. at Aggie Gym. The RiverHawks will take a 9-5 record into the fray after dismantling Rhema Bible College 68-33 Monday night at Jack Dobbins Field House.
The Aggies are 10-4 on the year after upsetting Texas A&M-Kingsville last week 59-48. The Aggies finished 4-3 against LSC South Division teams. The RiverHawks completed crossover play with a 4-2 record.
NSU head coach Larry Gipson expects a tough battle when his club plays the Aggies on Wednesday night.
"Cameron is a very physical, a good defensive team that's very tough," said Gipson. "They have two excellent shooters on the wing. I just think it's going to be a war down there," said Gipson.
Defensively the Aggies are No. 2 on the LSC charts giving up just 58.1 points, while the RiverHawks are No. 3 at 58.1. Both clubs are averaging in the 60s offensively, Cameron 65.7 and NSU 67.5
The contest in all likelihood will come down to who controls the boards. Both are atop the conference rebounding chart ranked 1-2 with Cameron edging the RiverHawks 40.9 to 34.5 boards per game.
Milton Garner, 6-1 sophomore, who transferred from State Fair Community College in Missouri, leads the Aggie scoring attack with a 14.0 scoring average. Garner is a 42.3 percent shooter from the field and is averaging 5.1 rebounds a game.
Dernodo Eiland, 6-6 junior guard, a transfer from Pratt Community College, is averaging 12.9 points a contest and is shooting 37.6 percent from the field. He is Cameron's top rebounder pulling down 5.4 boards a game.
Jacques Williams a 6-foot junior guard, a transfer from Mott Community College, is averaging 11.6 points a game and is the Aggies top 3-point shooter canning 41-of-109 attempts for a 37.6 mark from behind the arc.
Northeastern State will face a Cameron club that has not lost a game on its home floor this season (8-0).
The RiverHawks, however, has a four-prong scoring attack that could hand the Aggies its first home loss of the season in pre-season All-American candidate Jason Jones, Dominque Gaines, Marlon Burnett and Antoine Branch.
Jones, the third leading scorer in the Lone Star Conference, is averaging 17 points a game, while shooting 57 percent from the floor. Jason, 6-7 post, is NSU's leading rebounder at 9.2 a game, to rank third in the conference.
Since joining the team in mid-December, Gaines in six games is scoring 16-points a game and shooting 42.5 percent from the field.
Burnett is scoring 13 points a contest, to rank 13th in the league, while shooting 48.5 percent from the floor. Burnett is pulling down 5.3 boards a game.
Branch, a junior college transfer from Coffeyville Community College, is scoring at an 11.2 clip, shooting 42.5 percent from the field, including 41.5 percent from behind the arc, connecting on 34-of-82 attempts. Branch leads the RiverHawks in steals with 15 and has dished out 21 assists.
Following the Cameron game, the RiverHawks return home Saturday to play Southwestern State at Jack Dobbins Field House at 4 p.m.
