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ALVA, Okla. – The Northeastern State University men's basketball team remained perfect on the season with an 83-77 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State Saturday afternoon at Percefull Fieldhouse.
 
The RiverHawks (5-0) matched their win total from 2011-12 and equaled the best start to a season since 2005-06. This was the second time this year NSU was able to get the better of the Rangers (1-4), as the green and white defeated NWOSU 78-73 Nov. 12 in Tahlequah.
 
Senior forward Jermaine Bransford led the RiverHawks with the most productive game of his time at NSU. He poured in a career-high 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting in a career-high 37 minutes to pace the road team. He also hauled in nine rebounds, dished out four assists and finished 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.
 
The made free throws were a career high and he tied his personal best in assists. He recorded the first 30-point effort by an NSU men's basketball player since Feb. 23, 2011 (Antoine Branch, 31 vs. Cameron).
 
Junior guard Bryton Hobbs added 23 points and seven assists. He was 7-for-9 from the field and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. This marked the first time since NSU won the national championship in 2002-03 that a RiverHawk tandem went for 30 and 20 in the same game.
 
Senior guard Ethan Anderson added 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
 
Northeastern State shot a blistering 59 percent from the field (27-46), hit 5 of 10 from downtown and converted 92 percent at the line (24-26).
 
Daryl Glover led the home team with 22 points, and Jonathan Freemyer added 21 and six boards. Marshall Bell came off the bench to contribute 13 for NWOSU.
 
The Rangers shot 48 percent from the field (27-56), 38 percent from behind the arc (9-24) and just 64 percent from the charity stripe (14-22).
 
The first half went back and forth the entire way, with neither team holding more than a five-point advantage. There were eight lead changes and five ties, and NSU scored the final five points of the half to take a 40-34 lead into the locker room.
 
The RiverHawks scored the first six points of the second half to stretch their lead to 46-34, and NSU found itself with a 56-42 lead at the 14:40 mark.
 
The Rangers battled back and used a 17-0 run to take a 59-56 lead with less than nine minutes to play.
 
Hobbs stopped the bleeding with two free throws at the 8:27 mark, and NWOSU held the lead all the way to the 6:15 mark at 65-63.
 
Hobbs then tied the game on a nifty layup and Bransford converted a jumper on the next possession to give the visitors the lead for good.
 
NSU stretched its lead from 69-68 at the 4:22 mark to 83-73 with 16 seconds to play, and the RiverHawks held on for the 83-77 triumph to keep its perfect season alive.
 
Northeastern State outrebounded Northwestern Oklahoma State 29-23. Both teams committed 10 turnovers, but the road side had more assists (21-16) and points in the paint (32-28).
 
Northeastern State will next see action with a road matchup at Harding. The RiverHawks will face the Bisons at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 29.
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-