RiverHawks Bid For First Place North Division Tie With UCO
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - In the last meeting between Northeastern State and Central Oklahoma, the Bronchos dominated the RiverHawks with 17-three point baskets en route to an 84-50 victory at Edmond.
This time the25th-ranked Bronchos come to Jack Dobbins Field House for a 4 p.m. tip-off and the RiverHawks, the No. 2 defensive club in the Lone Star Conference, plans to put a clamp on the run-and-gun UCO attack.
Northeastern State will attend to avenge that last lost and more importantly tie the unbeaten Bronchos for the North Division lead. Central Oklahoma is atop the LSC North with an 9-0 record and 19-4 for the season. The Bronchos are ranked No. 4 in the South Central Region and have won 16 straight games.
The RiverHawks are 8-1 in the North Division, 17-7 for the season and are No. 8 in the South Central Region rankings. Northeastern State enters the UCO clash with a four-game winning streak and has won 11 of its last 13 games.
"This is a big game, a big game for us in particular," said Northeastern State head coach Larry Gipson. "It's an opportunity to get a win and possibly share the North Division championship. I think this will show how far our team has come.
"There's no question when we played down there they were the superior team. It will be interesting to see how we have developed as a team and where we are," said Gipson.
The key for the RiverHawks is slowing down the Bronchos run-and gun offense. Gipson said "That's the million dollar question. We have to do a better job defensively than we did last game.
"They have so many weapons that we may have to concede some things and hope to be able to score ourselves. You have to find a way to score against them and to find a way to limit there opportunities. You can't let them have second chance opportunities off offensive rebounds and no transitons baskets would be first steps we have to make to slow them down," said Gipson.
In the first meeting the Bronchos drained 17-of-34 from behind the 3-point line led by Eric Cazenave's 17-point output. UCO shot 32-of-65 from the field while Northeastern State was 16-of-54 from the field for just a 29.6 shooting night.
The Bronchos Dauntae Williams had a triple-double, the first for UCO in18 years as he scored 10 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and had 10 assists. Chris Rhymes added 16 points with Tyler Phillips scoring 13, and Shane Carroll 12.
Jason Jones led NSU's scoring with 14 points and Dominique Gaines added 12.
The Bronchos are the Lone Star Conference's top offensive club averaging 90 points a game and are coming off a 101-86 victory over Texas A&M-Commerce. The RiverHawks have had a week to prepare for the Bronchos, coming off a 75-71 win over East Central last Saturday at Dobbins Field House.
UCO's Williams is the No.2 point producer in the LSC North with a 20-point scoring average, followed by Chris Rhymes with a 13 point average, Cazenave at 12.3 and Phillips with a 12 point average.
Gaines leads the RiverHawks in scoring, averaging 18.6 points a game since becoming eligible in mid December.
Jones, a Division II pre-season All-American selection, is averaging 15 points a game, No. 6 in the LSC, while pulling down 9 rebounds per game, second in the LSC.
Marlon Burnett ranks 18th in the LSC scoring 12.5 points while Antoine Branch is scoring 10.3 points an outing.
Following the UCO clash, the RiverHawks have two games remaining, Thursday night against Cameron University on Senior Night and Saturday Feb. 27th on the road at Southwestern State, before entering the Lone Star Conference Tournament in Bartlesville beginning March 3.
