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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team ventures north to Maryville, Mo., for a road test against Northwest Missouri State this week. The RiverHawks (14-4, 7-3 MIAA) will put their four-game win streak on the line against the Bearcats (13-5, 6-3 MIAA) at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31 inside Bearcat Arena (2,500).
 
The two squads have split their only two meetings since NSU joined the NCAA in 1996-97. Northeastern State earned a 60-56 win early in the 1999-00 campaign, and the Bearcats got their revenge a year later, picking up a 62-60 triumph early the following year. Both games were played on neutral grounds.
 
NWMSU was selected in the preseason MIAA coaches poll to finish third in the league, while NSU was picked 14th.
 

Northeastern State's Probable Starters
F	10	Landon DeMasters	6-4, 200	So-RS	7.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg	Van Alstyne, Texas
F	15	Marcus Sheppard	6-4, 205	Jr-TR	6.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg	Vivian, La.
F	21	Jermaine Bransford	6-7, 225	Sr-1L	15.6 ppg, 10.1 rpg	Sand Springs, Okla.
G	3	Bryton Hobbs	6-0, 170	Jr-TR	17.4 ppg, 4.8 apg	St. Louis, Mo.
G	20	Ethan Anderson	6-3, 205	Sr-3L	11.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg	Cleburne, Texas
Northwest Missouri State's Probable Starters
F	51	Dillon Starzl	6-8, 250	Jr.	13.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg	Kearney, Mo.
C	34	Kyle Schlake	6-10, 230	Jr.	4.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg	Firth, Neb.
G	5	Bryston Williams	6-0, 190	Jr.	5.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg	St. Joseph, Mo.
G	20	Tyler Funk	6-3, 170	Jr.	3.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg	Kearney, Mo.
G	32	DeAngelo Hailey	6-3, 185	Sr.	14.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg	Detroit, Mich.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Northwest Missouri State is 13-5 this season and 6-3 in the MIAA. NWMSU has played eight of its last 10 games away from Bearcat Arena, and the team is 5-5 over that span. Recent league wins have come against Central Oklahoma (71-57) and Southwest Baptist (70-51). The Bearcats dropped their last game to Central Missouri (60-50). The team is led in scoring by DeAngelo Hailey (14.1 ppg), and Dillon Starzl is second in scoring and first in rebounding (13.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg). Alex Sullivan (11.4 ppg) is also a double-digit scorer.
 
WHERE THEY STAND
Northeastern State currently owns a 7-3 record in its first season in the MIAA. The RiverHawks sit in second in the league table and stand a half game ahead of Northwest Missouri State (6-3). Central Missouri leads the way at 8-1. NSU was selected to finish 14th in the conference this season by both the media and the league coaches.
 
BRANSFORD WINS SECOND WEEKLY HONOR
Jermaine Bransford was named the MIAA Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week Jan. 28, joining Washburn's Will McNeill as the only two-time winners of the award this season. This also marked the second-straight week a member of the RiverHawks won athlete of the week honors, as junior guard Bryton Hobbs earned his first-career laurel Jan. 21. Bransford used two double-doubles and a career performance to power Northeastern State to a perfect 2-0 week. He began with 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in NSU's win over Pittsburg State Jan. 23, and he then posted a game-high 20 points and a career-high 17 rebounds on the road against Missouri Southern State Jan. 26. For the week, Bransford recorded 19.5 points and 14.0 boards per game. He also dished out six assists and only turned the ball over twice in 74 minutes of action. He shot 55 percent (17-for-31) from the field and was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free-throw line. He also helped hold Missouri Southern State to a season-low 54 points.
 
THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Senior forward Jermaine Bransford entered 2012-13 with just one double-digit rebounding effort and no career double doubles. He recorded his first double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds Dec. 5 against Emporia State, and he now has reached at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in nine of his last 12 games. He also has near double-doubles against Arkansas Tech (eight points, 12 boards), Northwestern Oklahoma State (31 points, nine boards), Harding (12 points, eight rebounds), and Central Oklahoma (22 points, nine rebounds). Over his last 14 games, Bransford is averaging 16.8 ppg (239 total points) and 11.1 rpg (156 total rebounds). He leads the MIAA in rebounding this season with 10.1 rpg.
 
BRILLIANT BRYTON
Northeastern State received a welcomed addition in the offseason in junior transfer Bryton Hobbs. The guard from St. Louis, Mo., has come to Tahlequah via both Pratt Community College and Cowley College. He has taken the MIAA by storm in his first season with the RiverHawks, as he is currently the league's fourth-leading scorer at 17.4 ppg, and he is fifth in assists with 4.8 dimes a night.
 
IN THE LEAGUE
Northeastern State leads the MIAA in three statistical categories this year. The team is the league leader in free-throw percentage (.793), three point field-goal percentage (.408) and three point field-goal percentage defense (.302). The team is also second in scoring defense (62.4), field-goal percentage (.483) and assist/turnover ratio (1.3).
 
LIGHTS OUT
The RiverHawks have posted great shooting percentages this season, making 48 percent of their attempts from the field (454-939), 41 percent from downtown (126-309) and 79 percent from the free-throw line (184-358). Of those with at least 30 attempts, sophomore forward Landon DeMasters leads the team in shooting percentage (37-65, .569) and senior guard Ethan Anderson is the team leader in three-point percentage (39-86, .453). Senior forward Jermaine Bransford, Anderson, senior forward John Schneider, and junior guard Bryton Hobbs are a combined 193-for-231 (.835) from the charity stripe.
 
NSU's GIPSON IN 16TH SEASON
NSU's Larry Gipson (Heidelberg College, '74) is in his 16th season as the RiverHawks head coach. The long-time leader of the men's basketball program enters the year with a 259-183 record over his illustrious career at NSU. He is returning to the bench after having missed most of the 2011-12 season with an illness. Gipson is second all-time in school history behind only Jack Dobbins (314 wins) in career wins, and his .578 winning percentage is the best in school history. He reached the 100- and 200-win milestones faster than any other coach in school history. Gipson has posted eight winning seasons in his time at NSU, and those include five 20-win campaigns and a national championship in 2002-03 (32-3 record).
            Gipson was inducted into the NSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004. He and Nolan Richardson are the only two head coaches ever to lead teams to a national championship at both the NCAA and NJCAA level. Gipson, Richardson and Ray Harper (NCAA D-II, NAIA) are the only three coaches in college basketball history to win national titles at two different levels. Gipson began his college coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Tulsa under Richardson. Gipson has won three national coach of the year honors throughout his career. He was named the 2003 Division II Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), he earned the 2003 Molten/Division II Bulletin Coach of the Year award and he was also the 1989 NABC national junior college coach of the year. He was appointed by his peers as the President of the Board of the Directors for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in April 2012.
 
ONE FINAL YEAR
The 2012-13 campaign marks the last in Jack Dobbins Field House. The field house has served as the home of NSU basketball since the 1954-55 season, and Northeastern State will move into its new home beginning in 2013-14. The $14.4 million event center has yet to be named and is currently under construction. The new home of RiverHawks basketball will seat 3,000 and will be located adjacent to Doc Wadley Stadium on the north side of the NSU campus.
 
MIAA CHAMPIONSHIP IN KC
The 2013 MIAA Men's Basketball Championship is set to take place inside Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. The top 12 teams in the regular season all qualify for postseason play, with the top four earning byes to Kansas City. The first round will be contested at host sites March 4, with the fifth seed hosting No. 12, the sixth seed hosting No. 11, etc. Those four winners will join the top four seeds in KC March 7-10.
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