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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team opened the 2014-15 campaign with a 76-73 loss to Northwestern Oklahoma State Friday night inside the NSU Event Center.
 
The game was the final contest on the first day of the 2014 Stuteville Automotive Group MIAA GAC Basketball Challenge and was also the first on the sideline for new coach Jason Tinsley.
 
The RiverHawks (0-1) shot poor throughout the night, which included a 38.4 percent effort from the field (28-for-73). NSU shot just 42.3 percent (11-for-26) at the free-throw line, which was the worst shooting performance at the charity stripe for an NSU team since Dec. 11, 2010 (6-for-16 against Abilene Christian). The green and white also shot just 26.1 percent (6-for-23) from behind the 3-point line.
 
NWOSU shot 40.7 percent (22-for-54) from the field, 35.3 percent (6-for-17) from distance and 63.4 percent (26-for-41) at the free-throw line.
 
Despite the poor shooting effort and a 10-point deficit with 4:28 to play, the RiverHawks found themselves level at the 3:07 mark after surging on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 63-63.
 
Junior guard Demone Harrison converted a layup with 2:28 to play to give NSU its first lead since late in the first half, but the Rangers regained the lead three seconds later on a layup and never relinquished the advantage. Harrison had a chance to tie the game with four seconds left, but he missed a jumper close to the basket and also missed a free throw that would have tied the game at 74-74.
 
He came off the bench to lead Northeastern State with 17 points. Five members of the team finished in double figures, which included 11 each from senior guard Michael Harmon, junior guard Montre' Williams and junior forward Dakota Caudill. Senior guard Keon Littleton also had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
 
T'aries Taylor paced Northwestern Oklahoma State with a game-high 25 points. Darrian Dempsey added 19 for the visitors.
 
NSU will finish up the season-opening tournament with an 8:30 p.m. contest Nov. 15 against Southeastern Oklahoma State.

NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH JASON TINSLEY
Opening Statement...
"I thought our effort was good. We chart hustle plays and effort. We have seven categories that are hustle plays. They're not a skill, they're an effort. Our goal was 65 and we had 71 of those plays. So I thought the effort was there. As I've said 1,000 times, it's hard to play fast. People turn on the TV and they see the finished product of players running down the floor, but it takes a lot of work and it's very difficult to do. We had chances, but we missed 15 free throws, we missed shots around the basket. In the last two minutes we probably missed about five shots right at the rim. Another thing that players have to learn when they play fast is that you have to take the shots that you're capable of making. We took some ill-advised shots and playing fast isn't about taking bad shots. Playing fast is about getting the ball up the floor in a hurry, getting it to people in a hurry and taking shots that they can make. Northwestern is a good team and they're athletic. They did a great job against the zone. We got in some foul trouble and basically had to ride out the last three and a half minutes of the first half with the same guys on the floor and that's tough. We were just trying to survive the half. We've got to move on. I know it's a coach's cliche, but they can't wallow in their misery."
 
On players playing in a new system...
"Michael [Harmon] has got to shoot better. If you're going to be a gamer then there's expectations that you're going to make shots. He had some good looks, and I know he'll play better. As I said before the season even started, this is uncharted territory for these guys. They were not counted on last year to win basketball games. Their job last year was to play a secondary role. The offense wasn't going through any of these guys. We forced 25 turnovers, but we had 18 against a team that doesn't press. We talk about making the easy play. We had guys open to make the easy play, but sometimes we try to make the difficult play instead."
 
On taking positives from this game...
"We had five guys in double figures. We had 16 offensive rebounds. We had 10 steals. We gave ourselves those extra possessions. We're feeling our way through it. We made some steps towards playing the way we want. I'll say it again, playing fast is hard to do. I've got no problem with their effort. We made six more field goals than (Northwestern) did, but we've got to step it up at the free throw line. This was a great learning lesson. There's no better teacher than the game."
 
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