Box Score

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EDMOND, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball lost 63-56 to Central Oklahoma Saturday afternoon inside Hamilton Field House.
 
The RiverHawks (13-11, 8-9 MIAA) remained in a tie for eighth place in the MIAA standings with Nebraska-Kearney, while the Bronchos (17-7, 11-6 MIAA) won their sixth in a row to stay in fifth.
 
Senior guard Bryton Hobbs finished with a team-high 15 points despite not attempting a shot in the first half for the second time in three games. Senior forward Marcus Sheppard added 14 points for the visitors.
 
Northeastern State shot 35.2 percent (19-for-54) from the field, 35.7 percent (10-for-28) from downtown and 72.7 percent (8-for-11) at the free-throw line. UCO shot 47.8 percent (22-for-46) from the field, 31.3 percent (5-for-16) from downtown and 66.7 percent (14-for-21) at the line.
 
The Bronchos had more turnovers than NSU (16-13) but dominated the boards (38-28) and had 20 more points in the paint (32-12).
 
Josh Gibbs led Central Oklahoma with 16 points, and Aaron Anderson added 15.
 
Northeastern State jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but the Bronchos quickly got back into the contest and tied the game at 13-13 with 11:45 left in the opening half. The two teams went back and forth for the remainder of the first 20 minutes, and UCO used a late spurt to pull ahead 31-26 at intermission.
 
NSU battled back to take a 36-35 advantage at the 14:26 mark of the second half, but that was the last time the RiverHawks sniffed the lead.
 
Central Oklahoma exploded on an 11-0 run in just two minutes, and Northeastern State could not recover. The road team never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
 
NSU is currently in a tie for eighth place in the MIAA with Nebraska-Kearney (12-12, 8-9 MIAA). The RiverHawks and Lopers lock up at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in Kearney, Neb. The winner will likely earn a home game in the first round of the MIAA Championship, while the loser will likely be forced to travel.
 
Scoring Summary
Northeastern State              26        30         56
Central Oklahoma                31        32         63
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH LARRY GIPSON
Statement…
"We guarded well enough to win the game, but we just didn't shoot the ball very well. We also didn't execute as well as we needed to. We had several opportunities and we sputtered them away. We were able to take a lead early in the second half, but we just couldn't get any momentum going or stop them at key moments. We didn't attack their zone very well from the inside. We needed to be more productive in that area. We've got to do a better job of scoring on the inside. That's basically been the story of the second semester; our lack of ability to score inside the paint. Teams take away our penetration when they zone us and we aren't able to hit outside shots."
 
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