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TOPEKA, Kan. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team ended the season for Washburn with a 79-75 victory Tuesday night in Lee Arena in the opening round of the 2014 MIAA Championship.
 
The No. 9-seeded RiverHawks (15-12) used a balanced effort to eliminate the No. 8-seeded Ichabods (17-10), who saw their season come to an end. Northeastern State will now face top seed and No. 15-ranked Central Missouri in the quarterfinals at noon March 7 in Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
 
Junior forward Landon DeMasters exploded for a career-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the winning performance. He connected on 4-of-7 three's and hit all three free-throw opportunities.
 
Five RiverHawks scored in double figures, including senior guard Bryton Hobbs (15), senior forward Marcus Sheppard (13), junior guard Dalen Qualls (12), and junior forward Curtis Evans (10). Junior guard Michael Harmon also added eight points for NSU.
 
Northeastern State shot 52.2 percent (24-for-46) from the field, 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from behind the 3-point line and 78.6 percent (22-for-28) at the free-throw line. The Ichabods shot 47.5 percent (28-for-59) from the field, 26.9 percent (7-for-26) from distance and 75 percent (12-for-16) at the charity stripe.
 
Kyle Wiggins paced the home side with 24 points, while Alex North registered a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Korey Fisher added 11 points in the season-ending effort.
 
Northeastern State was the aggressor early and built a 29-17 lead in the first 10 minutes despite five early triples from WU. Washburn fought back and cut the NSU lead down to 43-38 before intermission.
 
The Ichabods inched closer in the opening portion of the second half and found themselves trailing just 57-54 with 11:40 remaining after free throws from Sheppard.
 
A layup from Chris Deanes at the 11:23 mark sparked an 11-0 run that saw the home team flip the script and lead 65-57 with 8:45 left.
 
A dunk from Evans stopped the bleeding for the visitors, and two 3-point baskets from DeMasters aided the RiverHawks comeback. His second trey tied the game at 69-69, and his jumper with 3:30 remaining put Northeastern State on top for good.
 
Washburn misfired on its last five field-goal attempts as NSU held on for the four-point tournament victory.
 
This marks the second-straight season NSU has had both the men and women advance to Kansas City. The NSU women defeated Northwest Missouri State 75-72 on March 3 in Maryville, Mo.
 
The other five programs with both teams advancing to the MIAA Championship Quarterfinals are Central Missouri, Missouri Southern State, Emporia State, Fort Hays State, and Central Oklahoma. Northeastern State is the only school with both teams winning on the road in the first round.

Scoring Summary
Northeastern State              43        36         79
Washburn                            38        37         75
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH LARRY GIPSON
Opening Statement…
"I'm excited to extend my coaching career for at least one more game. My golf career will start soon enough. I hope this goes on for a while. We're playing more like a team right now, and it shows. That's a concept we've struggled with at times late in the year. It's made us much more difficult to beat. We don't turn the ball over, and we do a great job of sharing the ball. I don't think we were very good defensively, but both teams were very good offensively. We guarded them when we had to."
 
On Landon DeMasters scoring a career-high 21 points…
"Landon hit some big shots. They gambled and left him open trying to locate people over to Bryton, and he was able to make them pay. This is the second-straight quality performance for Landon. He has really stepped up and is the key reason more than anybody for us being able to go on the road and win these last two games."
 
On the beginning of the game when Washburn hit five three's…
"The only difference between now and last time (when Washburn hit nine first-half 3's the last time NSU played in Topeka) is we were also scoring tonight. The first game they were scoring and we weren't able to keep up, but this time we were hanging with them."
 
On advancing to Kansas City…
"The experience of playing in this tournament in Kansas City in Municipal Auditorium is huge for the young guys returning. There is a tremendous atmosphere and the MIAA has one of the best Division II conference tournaments in the country. The next coach is going to reap those benefits."
 
On Central Missouri…
"We're almost going to have to play a perfect game in order to beat them. They are efficient offensively and they've got the best post player in the league in Dillon Deck. I'm not looking forward to watching film on them tomorrow. They're going to be a formidable opponent, but I'm excited to have the opportunity to face them. That's all you can ask for at the point of the season."
 
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