Box Score

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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team upset No. 19 Arkansas Tech University 75-60 Thursday night inside Jack Dobbins Field House.
 
The RiverHawks (2-0) never trailed in the game and were led in scoring by junior guard Bryton Hobbs, who dropped 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line, grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists in 40 minutes of action.
 
Senior guard Ethan Anderson added 14 points, sophomore forward Landon DeMasters scored 13 and senior forward Jermaine Bransford contributed eight points and 12 rebounds.
 
NSU shot a blistering 55 percent from the field, 50 percent (7 of 14) from the three-point line and 92 percent (24 of 26) from the free-throw line. The home team held the Wonder Boys (0-1) to just 37-percent shooting overall and 25 percent from behind the arc. ATU was also 11-for-15 from the free-throw line.
 
Northeastern State had a 7-0 advantage on the scoreboard before Arkansas Tech knew what happened. The RiverHawks were able to push that lead out to 11 at 13-2 early in the first half.
 
A jumper from ATU's Willie Kirkland at the 11:32 mark stopped the bleeding, and the Wonder Boys were able to cut the deficit down to seven at 22-15 with 5:30 remaining.
 
Free throws from Hobbs and a triple from DeMasters on back-to-back possessions sparked a 15-3 run that saw the home team's lead swell to 37-18 with a little more than a minute to play in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Arkansas Tech would take the momentum into halftime, however, as the road team found itself down 37-23 at intermission after scoring the final five points.
 
The Wonder Boys began to press more in the second half and were able to dwindle the lead all the way to two at 43-41 with 14:15 to play in the contest before the RiverHawks were forced to call timeout.
 
Hobbs made a jumper on NSU's next possession, and Arkansas Tech would never get closer than four points the rest of the way.
 
The final four-point deficit came at 64-60 with 2:41 left in the game, but the RiverHawks closed out the game on an 11-0 run to capture the upset win over the Wonder Boys.
 
Arkansas Tech was led by Kirkland, who scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Will Paul was the only other member of the squad to reach double figures, as he scored 10.
 
NSU outrebounded ATU 34-25, but the home team did commit 20 turnovers to just 14 from the visitors.
 
Northeastern State will next play host to Central Bible College at 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at Jack Dobbins Field House.
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-
 
HEAD COACH LARRY GIPSON
On the importance of the win…
”I said before the game that we'd find out where we were as a basketball team and what level we could compete at. I think it's self-evident that we can compete with the better teams in the region. I told our team that it doesn't do any good to win this game and not come in tomorrow and be ready to try and get better. It's the second game of the year and we have to just try to get better every day. This win is not going to mean anything if we're mediocre at the end of the season. We just need to keep improving.”
 
On playing a ranked team this early in the season…
“I think they're trying to blend some guys together. They've got a big team coupled with some real athletic small players and I think they're trying to figure out how they want to play. They lost veteran guards off their Sweet 16 team from a year ago and guards are everything, but I think it's obvious we're much improved.”
 
On the addition of Bryton Hobbs…
“Bryton is an uncommon player. He's an excellent ball handler and he can make plays for other people. He's got a competitive spirit about him. If he can stay focused and on task, I think he has a chance to really be a good leader for us down the stretch.”