RiverHawks Overpower Abilene Christian
ABILENE, Texas - Northeastern State placed five players in double-figure scoring, including a double-double by Jason Jones to overpower Abilene Christian 73-69 in a Lone Star Conference crossover game at Moody Coliseum Monday afternoon.
"It was a good win, anytime you go on the road in our league and get a win its good," said Northeastern State head coach Larry Gipson. "I thought Jason (Jones) played very well and we got good play from Antonie (Branch) and J.C. Sneed coming off the bench.
"I thought it was one of Antonie's better games from an offensive standpoint. Defensively I thought it was just an average game for us. We could have played better defensively.
"Abilene made some shots they had not made this year. We were a little tired and sluggish at times but we are starting to figure it out. We've went through a learning period and its just going to take some time," said Gipson.
Junior College transfer Antoine Branch led the RiverHawks scoring with 19 points on 7-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-7 on 3-point shots, as NSU shot 52 percent from the field (24-of-46), including 9-of-21 from behind the arc.
Jones followed with 14 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Dominic Gaines, playing in only his second game since becoming eligible, scored 14 points, with Marlon Burnett and J.C. Sneed scoring 10 points each.
Abilene Christian's scoring was led by Abby Kabby's 21 points followed by Eddie Thompson's 17.
The RiverHawks are now 6-4 and will return to play on Jan. 4th at Jack Dobbins Field House against NCAA Division II's No.5 ranked team Arkansas Tech University.
"It's really good to get a win going into the Christmas break and get a week off," said Gipson. "That's good for the players and coaches."
NSU held a 39-27 lead at the intermission and held its largest lead of the game in the opening 20 minutes, an 11-point margin 26-15 on a pair of free throws by Burnett.
The RiverHawks took a 9-point lead to open the second half but fell behind by a point, 48-47 with 12:47 remaining in the game. NSU regained the lead on a layup by Branch, followed by another layup by Burnett for a 51-48 RiverHawk lead.
Northeastern State never relinquished the lead in the final 12-minutes, increasing their margin to as many as eight points in the final 10 minutes. Abilene made a run at the RiverHawks coming as close as three points in the final 13 seconds, before Jones put it away with a free throw with 7-seconds left.
