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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team defeated the University of Nebraska-Kearney 90-85 Thursday evening inside the NSU Event Center in a Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association contest.
 
The RiverHawks (11-4, 6-2 MIAA) halted a two-game losing skid, while handing the Lopers (5-9, 2-6 MIAA) their fourth-straight conference loss.
 
NSU was led once again by senior guard Bryton Hobbs, who finished with 27 points and a career-high 10 assists for the fourth double-double of his career. Junior guard Dalen Qualls poured in 18 points and has now scored in double figures in four-straight contests. Senior forward Marcus Sheppard and junior forward Curtis Evans both added 12 points, while junior guard Keon Littleton contributed 11 to the winning cause.
 
Northeastern State shot 54.9 percent (28-for-51) from the field, 40 percent (8-for-20) from downtown and 76.5 percent (26-for-34) at the free-throw line. UNK shot 50 percent (30-for-60) overall, 39.3 percent (11-for-28) from distance and 60.9 percent (14-for-23) at the line.
 
Nebraska-Kearney was led by Davion Pearson's 20 points. Ethan Brozek added 18 and Tyler Shields contributed 10. Connor Beranek entered the contest third in the MIAA in scoring at 19.4 points per game, but he was held to just 13. Mike Dentlinger was second on the squad at 13.8 ppg, but he only scored six before fouling out.
 
The two teams played to a 35-35 standstill after the first 20 minutes, but Littleton connected on a three-point basket 1:22 into the second half and NSU never trailed again.
 
The RiverHawks blew the game open with an 11-0 run that broke a 47-47, giving the home team a 58-47 edge with 12:21 remaining in regulation.
 
UNK clawed back into the contest and got to within four at 65-61 with 7:46 remaining, but NSU used a short 6-0 run to take the lead back to double digits, and the Lopers never got closer than five.
 
Nebraska-Kearney outrebounded Northeastern State 35-27, while also leading in points in the paint (32-24) and bench points (21-10). NSU countered with fewer turnovers (10-12), more blocks (5-3), more assists (18-12), and better shooting percentages across the board.
 
NSU remains home for a tough battle with Fort Hays State. The RiverHawks and Tigers are both receiving votes in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll, and they will lock up at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 18.
 
Scoring Summary
Nebraska-Kearney              35        50         85
Northeastern State              35        55         90
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH LARRY GIPSON
Opening Statement…
"I'm happy to get a win. This is a tough league to get wins in. We protected our home court. We still have some defensive deficiencies that have not been corrected, and we need to do a better job of playing defense down the stretch. I thought we lost some assignments and got confused on some defensive rotations, and we simply need to do a better job."
 
On valuing each possession…
"The average margin of victory in the MIAA is only two or three possessions. There's probably four or five possessions in each game that turn the game around one way or another, and you don't know when those possessions are going to occur. So we have to be ready to play every possession, and we have trouble with concentrating through every possession for an entire game. We can concentrate for short minutes, but not for as long as we need to."
 
On getting Landon DeMasters back in the lineup…
"Landon DeMasters adds stability to our lineup. Obviously he was rusty because he had not played since Dec. 7. He understands the game extremely well and he is a coach's son. He does a lot of things the average fan doesn't notice. He was a step slow tonight and got into some foul trouble, but there is a lot of rust that we have to knock off. Eventually that will come around."
 
On the positives from the game…
"No. 1, we won the game. That's always a positive. Also, we made pressure free throws down the stretch, and our energy early was very good."
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-