Box Score

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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team defeated Southwest Baptist 97-91 Thursday night inside the NSU Event Center in a Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association matchup.
 
The RiverHawks (10-2, 5-0 MIAA) were led by senior Bryton Hobbs, who dropped a career-high 40 points on 10-of-18 shooting. He was also 16-for-21 at the free-throw line, made four three-point shots, dished out a career-high nine assists and pulled down five rebounds. His performance was the first 40-point effort by an NSU player since All-American Darnell Hinson recorded 46 against Southwestern Oklahoma State on Feb. 26, 2004.
 
Junior guard Dalen Qualls registered 23 points, knocking down 7 of 10 from downtown. The point total for the transfer was his highest in the green and white, and he hit more three's than any member of the team since Antoine Branch in the 2010-11 season.
 
Junior guard Amir Gilliam tallied a career-high 11 assists, which was the first time since Jan. 8, 2007 (LaMont George) that an NSU player had double-digit assists. Senior forward Marcus Sheppard added 18 points to the winning effort.
 
NSU shot 55 percent (32-for-58) from the field, 52 percent (13-for-25) from downtown and 67 percent (20-for-30) at the free-throw line. The RiverHawks also shot a scorching 77 percent (10-for-13) from beyond the arc in the second half.
 
The Bearcats (8-6, 1-4 MIAA) hit 46 percent (34-for-74) from the field, 23 percent (8-for-35) from behind the three-point line and 68 percent (15-for-22) at the line.
 
Northeastern State saw a narrow 7-6 lead in the early going after a layup from Sheppard, but the Bearcats got hot from the field and embarked on an elongated 24-8 run that lasted eight and a half minutes.
 
With the Bearcats up 30-15, Qualls hit a layup to stop the bleeding, but the visitors maintained a 16-point lead up until the final media timeout of the first half. The RiverHawks were able to use an 18-5 run to end the half, however, to trail by just three (43-40) at intermission.
 
NSU tied the game with 17:10 to play when Hobbs hit two free throws, but the team needed three more ties before finally being able to regain the lead. A three from Hobbs at 12:16 gave Northeastern State a 59-56 edge, but SBU battled back and took a 70-69 advantage with 6:44 remaining.
 
The RiverHawks took control of the game at that point, hitting five three-point shots on their next six possessions to blow past SBU with a game-clinching 20-4 run that gave the home side a 15-point lead with 2:57 to play.
 
The Bearcats fought back to within five, but there were only 18 seconds left on the clock and the final comeback attempt fell short.
 
NSU stays at home for a 3:30 p.m. tip Jan. 11 with Missouri Southern State.
 
Scoring Summary
Southwest Baptist     43      48        91
Northeastern State   40      57        97
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH LARRY GIPSON
Opening Statement…
"I'm happy with this win. I think Southwest Baptist is a pretty good basketball team. They were 7-2 coming into league play. They're the leading-scoring team in the MIAA and you can see why. They've got a lot of players that can score. We were delayed in getting started in the second semester because of weather and our trip to Northwest Missouri. Now, obviously we have to get better than we played tonight. But to get a win, we're pleased."
 
On the 16-point first-half deficit…
"I told our team that we had to guard them. (Southwest Baptist was) on pace to score about 115 points for the game and we weren't playing any defense. We were making some cardinal defensive mistakes. Amir Gilliam came in and settled us down. He got us in a groove defensively. He had a big night with 11 assists. I think he gave us a huge lift. He got us a little more focused defensively. Cutting the deficit to one possession before halftime was huge. Then it was anybody's ballgame."
 
On Amir Gilliam and Dalen Qualls…
"Amir has come back from the break and has had some very good practices, and I thought he deserved a shot to play. Tonight, he did a better job defending than he has. He stabilized our defense. We also got really good productivity out of Dalen. He has come back and practiced better, also. This is by far his best performance. We recruited him as a shooter, and he hasn't really shot the ball that well this year. He shot it well tonight, and a lot of his makes were timely for us when we needed them."
 
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