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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team picked up its first win of the season with a 94-84 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State Saturday night inside the NSU Event Center.
 
The RiverHawks (1-1) were playing in the final game of the 2014 Stuteville Automotive Group MIAA GAC Basketball Challenge. The victory was the first for new coach Jason Tinsley.
 
Neither team led by more than four points in the first 12 minutes of the contest, and it was the visitors that would push ahead by an eight-point margin with 6:43 to play. Northeastern State used a 12-4 run to tie the contest in the final minute of the opening half, but an and-1 by Taylor Smaller with six seconds to play allowed SEOSU to take a 42-39 lead into the locker room.
 
The game remained close throughout the majority of the second half, as neither team could gain anything more than a four-point advantage. That was until a three from senior forward Landon DeMasters with 5:03 remaining gave NSU a six-point lead. The RiverHawks closed strong and were able to extent their lead to the final 10-point margin.
 
Junior guard Demone Harrison tallied 30 points off the bench to lead all scorers. Senior guard Michael Harmon poured in 20, DeMasters had 12 and junior guard Trey Mohair added 11. All five starters for the Savage Storm reached double figures, led by 25 from Smaller. Darius Harris finished two assists shy of a triple double, as he registered 11 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and four blocks. Sami Bzai scored 18 points, Danny Powell added 13 and Nathan Jackson chipped in 12.
 
Northeastern State shot 41.4 percent (29-for-70) from the field, 42.4 percent (14-for-33) from distance and 78.6 percent (22-for-28) at the free-throw line. SEOSU shot 53.1 percent (26-for-49) from the field, 44.4 percent (8-for-18) from 3-point land and 77.4 percent (24-for-31) at the line.
 
NSU was outrebounded 39-32, but the team committed just seven turnovers and forced 22. The RiverHawks also led in steals 13-5.
 
Northeastern State hits the road for its next four games, beginning with a 7:30 p.m. contest Nov. 18 against Harding in Searcy, Arkansas.

NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH JASON TINSLEY
On getting his first win at NSU...
"Obviously it feels good to get the monkey off your back. We talk about it all the time, you're following Larry Gipson who won a national championship here. I knew Southeastern was going to be a tough out. They have a really good team, and they gave UCO all they wanted. They have good guard play, size, and they're very athletic. (Danny Powell) is a heck of a player. He's built like an NFL tight end. He's got nimble feet and good hands. This was a good win against a good team. It feels good."
 
On Demone Harrison scoring 30 points...
"We knew when we signed him that he could score in bunches, and he can shoot the ball. He needs to do more of that and be more of a complete player. He needs to be more than just a jump shooter. I think he's starting to figure that out."
 
On the improvements from the previous game...
"Overall we played better. We played better top to bottom. We had 19 assists, which is a great number. We only had seven turnovers, which is a great number. We had 13 steals and forced 22 turnovers. I thought offensively we looked more in sync. We didn't rush things. Last night, I thought we were a little wild. Tonight, we were much calmer. We had more of a rhythm and let the game come to us."
 
On having goals for certain stats...
"We want to get 90 shots which we didn't get. We want 40 percent of our shots to be 3-point attempts, which we accomplished. We want to force 32 turnovers, which we were a little short on. The way we play is a numbers game. Another big thing is, last night we missed 15 field goals. Tonight we were 22-for-28. We talked about those things. We needed to relax and not play so tight. There's no better teaching tool than to see yourself in color. We watched the video from last night and we improved. I thought our guard play was good."
 
On individual play...
"Landon DeMasters' play was great. He's got a bad back and he's in a lot of pain right now. He got 12 points and six rebounds. The guy is just a gamer. Keon Littleton had eight rebounds in the short amount of time he played. Montre' Williams' play doesn't necessarily show up in the box score, but I thought he did a heck of a defensive job on (Taylor Smaller). He guarded his guts out."
 
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