Box Score

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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team defeated Pittsburg State 64-62 Wednesday night inside Jack Dobbins Field House.
 
The RiverHawks (13-4, 6-3 MIAA) picked up their third-straight win, while the Gorillas (12-5, 5-4 MIAA) have now lost three of their last four.
 
NSU was led by junior guard Bryton Hobbs, who scored 23 points and tied his career high with four steals in 38 minutes. He also hit the game-winning jumper with 6.6 seconds remaining in the contest.
 
Senior forward Jermaine Bransford recorded 19 points and 11 rebounds, and senior guard Ethan Anderson added 13 points.
 
The RiverHawks shot 41 percent (24-for-58) from the field, 25 percent (4-for-16) from downtown and 92 percent (12-for-13) from the free-throw line.
 
Pittsburg State was led by Kaleb Porter, who scored 17 points off the bench. JaVon McGee recorded 14 points and 11 boards, while Marky Nolen contributed 10 points.
 
The visitors shot 43 percent (24-for-56) from the field, 31 percent (5-for-16) from distance and 82 percent (9-for-11) at the line. PSU's bench outscored NSU 29-2, and the Gorillas outrebounded the home team 37-31.
 
Northeastern State was the first team to take a sizeable lead, as the green and white led 21-14 at the 9:37 mark of the opening half. Pittsburg State quickly tied the game at 23-23, but NSU finished the first half on an 11-1 run to take a 34-26 advantage into the break.
 
The RiverHawks led by as many as 12 points in the second half, and they looked to be in total control with a 52-41 lead at 13:13. The Gorillas had other plans, however, and they began to chip away.
 
They came all the way back to take a 62-60 lead, but a layup from sophomore forward Landon DeMasters with 56 seconds remaining and Hobbs' running layup with 6.6 seconds left allowed the home team to avoid the loss.
 
PSU's Courtney Ingram was able to get a clean look at a game-winning three from the corner at the buzzer, but his shot went long and NSU captured the victory.
 
Northeastern State will now head out on the road for a three-game set away from Jack Dobbins Field House. The first game will be at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 26 against Missouri Southern State.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE HEAD COACH LARRY GIPSON
On finding a way to win…
”Pittsburg State outplayed us (from the 13:13 mark of the second half) until the last 10 seconds of the game. We made a play at the end, and they didn't. That's really what it comes down to. I am proud of our guys for getting a win. That's a very good basketball team. That's a very tough, physical team. To beat them says a lot about the competitiveness of our team, but we have to clean up some stuff. We have to get better.”
 
On Jermaine Bransford's performance…
“Jermaine has been a real force for us. He is one of the better big guys in the MIAA who can both score and rebound. We just need to continue to get minutes out of him. We have to find a way to get more productivity out of other guys besides Jermaine and Bryton (Hobbs) on a more consistent basis. The other night against Washburn, we were able to get scoring from three or four other players. Obviously, that was a much better game for us. We have to find some answers and get some more scoring out of some other people.”
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-