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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team lost 63-57 to Central Oklahoma Saturday evening inside the NSU Event Center.
 
The RiverHawks (6-18, 4-13 MIAA) lost their third in a row despite holding the MIAA's No. 1 scoring offense to 17 points below its season average.
 
Junior guard Demone Harrison paced NSU with 20 points. He was the only member of the team in double figures.
 
Northeastern State shot 39.3 percent (22-for-56) from the field, 20.8 percent (5-for-24) from downtown and 72.7 percent (8-for-11) at the free-throw line. The Bronchos shot 41.3 percent (19-for-46) overall, 38.9 percent (7-for-18) from distance and 54.5 percent (18-for-33) at the charity stripe.
 
Mahlon Jones led UCO with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Philip Brown added 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Cal Andrews contributed 13 points and eight boards.
 
Central Oklahoma took an 11-8 lead after a traditional 3-point play from Jacob Strassle at the 15:51 mark of the opening half, and the visitors never trailed again.
 
The RiverHawks fell behind by eight at one point in the first half but were able to cut the deficit down to one before a tip-in at the buzzer gave UCO a 32-29 halftime lead. The Bronchos were able to build as much as a 12-point lead in the second half, and they held on for the six-point victory.
 
Northeastern State remains home for a 7:30 p.m. contest Feb. 26 against Nebraska-Kearney.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH JASON TINSLEY
Initial Statement…
"For the most part our defense was pretty good. Overall, the second half was better, but for the game it wasn't bad. We were pretty active flying around. Unfortunately, we did a great job until the shot went up and then we wouldn't finish the play. We gave them way too many second-chance opportunities. When you get outrebounded 43-30 and you let your opponent score 18 second-chance points, it's difficult to win. That's what we did today. It probably sounds like a broken record, but it's frustrating to watch guys not rebound the basketball. We had opportunities on the offensive end and we didn't always make shots. We were 5-for-23 from 3-point and we had a lot of good looks at the basket from in the lane that we missed. You can't give the other guys second chances and you have to make your shots. When you don't do those things, there's your ballgame."
 
On everybody contributing....
"We got in foul trouble today and we only have nine guys. We finished the first half with five guards on the floor. I thought we battled hard today. We continued to compete the whole game. We played a bunch of guys today and they all contributed in some fashion. I thought we had good effort. Austin Lynch came in the game and did some good things for us. He rebounded and was active on the defensive end. Terry Starks came in the game and got a few deflections and scored five points. He was pretty active. We've just got to stop the other guy and make more shots ourselves."
 
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