Box Score

Box score (HTML)  I  Box score (PDF)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team defeated Lincoln 87-72 Thursday night inside Jason Gym to open play in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
 
The RiverHawks (6-2, 1-0 MIAA) had five players in double figures, while the Blue Tigers (2-7, 0-1 MIAA) were unable to hang with the hot shooting from the visitors.
 
NSU was led yet again by senior guard Bryton Hobbs, who finished with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists. He had some help in the contest, namely from junior guard Dalen Qualls. The junior college transfer finished with a season-best 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He also made four threes in 28 minutes.
 
Joining Hobbs and Qualls in double figures were junior forward Jeremy McDonald (12) and senior forward Marcus Sheppard (11). Junior forward Curtis Evans had his second double-double of the year after finishing with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
 
NSU shot 59 percent (32-for-54) from the field and 40 percent (6-for-15) from three-point land. LU posted a 42 percent shooting average (25-for-60) and converted 8 of 22 (36 percent) from distance. The RiverHawks held a 39-27 rebounding margin.
 
Clay Crouch led the Blue Tigers with 21 points. Charles Cole added 11 and James Edmond chipped in 10.
 
A Qualls layup at the 16:30 mark of the opening half gave NSU a 10-8 lead, and the visitors would never trail again. The green and white used a 14-3 run early in the contest to pull ahead 19-11, but the Blue Tigers kept it close for nearly the remainder of the half.
 
Crouch knocked down a triple to bring LU to within seven at 31-24 at the 2:53 mark, but Hobbs and junior guard Keon Littleton scored every point in a 13-3 run to give Northeastern State a 44-27 halftime edge.
 
The RiverHawks stretched their lead out to as much as 20 points in the second half and held off a pair of late surges from Lincoln to stave off the home side and earn the victory.
 
NSU will close out the two-game road stretch with a 3:30 p.m. meeting Dec. 7 at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo.
 
Scoring Summary
Northeastern State  44        43        87
Lincoln                      27        45        72
 
Northeastern State Coach Larry Gipson
Opening Statement…
"They can't take it away from us; we're in first place right now. This is a tough place to play. I told our team that every year Lincoln knocks off one of the league favorites in this gym. It's a good collegiate environment. It's a very positive environment that is unlike any that we face. They have a great pep band and great student enthusiasm. Outside of a few possessions in the second half, I thought we controlled the game for the most part."
 
On Dalen Qualls registering a season-best 19 points…
"He finally broke out. We've been waiting on him to have a game like this. We know he has the ability to perform like this. He was an all-region performer a year ago at his junior college. We're really happy he broke out tonight, and we hope this is the beginning of more good things to come from him."
 
On the final few minutes of the first half…
"That sequence was huge because it gave us a near insurmountable lead. We could have had a nine or 10-point lead at the half, but we were able to get ahead by 17 at the break because of that stretch. We were able to get ahead by as much as 20 in the second half and just hold on from there. Another real key in the game was when Bryton (Hobbs) picked up his third foul and Amir Gilliam came in and did a great job of steadying everything. We scored baskets with that lineup, with Dalen (Qualls), Amir and Keon (Littleton). They did a good job."
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-