RiverHawks Gun Down High Powered East Central
ADA, Okla. --- Northeastern State opened the second half with a 16-4 run and then slowed East Central's run-and-gun offense to capture a 79-67 Lone Star Conference North Division victory Saturday afternoon at the Kerr Activities Center.
The RiverHawks in winning its seventh consecutive game and 11th in their last 13, improved to 13-5 overall and 4-0 in LSC North Division play. East Central goes to 5-12 and 0-3.
Jason Jones led the RiverHawks scoring with 18 points and 14 boards to collect his sixth double-double of the season. Dominique Gaines followed with 15 points, Marlon Burnett 13 and Antoine Branch 10.
The RiverHawks shot 44 percent from the field (30-of-67) while holding the Tigers high octane offense, which was averaging over 90 points a game, to 33 percent (23-of-68) and just 2-of-16 from behind the arc.
East Central's scoring was led by Terrence Hill with 15 points while Eric Allen added 13 and Denarius Darby 12.
"I thought we did an excellent job with our defense," said Northeastern State head coach Larry Gipson. "They finished with 67 points but with just 1:53 left to go in the game they had just 53 points at the last media timeout, so for 38 minutes I thought our kids did a really good job of executing the game plan.
"They (East Central) make it a helter-skelter game and you can't really run a traditional offense against them. You just have to move the basketball and find the open areas and be on the attack. I thought we did a good job of that today."
The RiverHawks largest lead of the contest was 25 points 64-39 with 9:35 left when Jesse Scoggins connected on a pair of free throws.
The RiverHawks began the game with three starters, Gaines, Branch and Burnett held out of the game for the first three minutes of the game by Gipson.
It made little difference as the RiverHawks led by pre-season All-America candidate Jason Jones in the post took control and the RiverHawks'defense controlled the tempo of the game.
"We played our game today and got the game going in our way and competed well throughout the game," said Gipson.
Northeastern State turned up the defensive pressure midway the first half and raced to a commanding 41-26 lead at the intermission.
The Riverhawks held the Tigers to 32 percent shooting the first half as ECU managed just 10-of-31 from the field, while Northeastern State was shooting 40 percent from the field on 15-of-37.
Jones led the RiverHawks first half assault with 13 points with Gaines adding 10 first-half points.
Northeastern State's largest lead of the opening 20 minutes was 17 points, 36-19 when Ethan Anderson scored back-to-back buckets. Northeastern State got its first lead 9-8 on a 3-point shot by Jones with 14:28 remaining in the first half. It was a lead that Northeastern State never relinquished.
In the first half the RiverHawks out-rebounded the Tigers 29-21 with 12 offensive boards. East Central had its problems at the free throw line in the first half sinking just 1-of-8, while the RiverHawks were i9-of-13 at the stripe.
Northeastern State will travel to Wichita Falls, Texas, Monday to play 9th-ranked team in the nation the Midwestern State Mustangs in a Lone Star Conference crossover contest, the final crossover game of the year for NSU. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
Mikdwestern game was originally scheduled for the first Saturday in December and that was during Midwestern's exam week and it was rescheduled.
"It's one of those rare crossover games in the middle of our divisional play," said Gipson. "For us it's not a bad thing, because we play Monday and do not play again until Saturday. But we will have our hands full," said Gipson.
