TAHLEQUAH – Caleb Smith opened the game with a three pointer and Northeastern State never looked back, dismantling Pittsburg State 83-64 inside the NSU Event Center.
 
Saturday's win is the RiverHawks third in a row to send them to 9-8 overall and 3-5 in MIAA play.  
 
Pitt State entered the contest on a four game winning streak and left with their largest defeat in over a year.  The Gorillas are now 13-4 and 6-2 in the MIAA.
 
Smith was a point short of his career mark with 24 on 8-for-17 shooting.  The junior also grabbed eight rebounds and had five assists. 
 
Bradley George neared triple-double territory with 11 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds.
 
NSU blistered the Gorillas out of the locker room in the second half with seven treys in the first nine minutes to balloon their lead out to 71-41.   Five of those three pointers came from Trent Cantrell who had a career high 22-point afternoon.
 
The Gorillas countered with an 18-4 run but they trailed by at least 16 the rest of the way.
 
For the fifth game in a row the RiverHawks out-shot a team and went 47.5-percent (29-32) on the floor and they out rebounded the Gorillas by three with 40.  Pitt State shot a season low 38.6-percent (22-57) with Donovan Franklin leading their squad with 20 points.
 
TIP-INS
Northeastern State's 30 point lead is the second largest of the season …  NSU surpassed their 2017-18 win total … RiverHawks halt a seven game Pitt State win streak in the head-to-head series … first three game MIAA win streak for NSU since the 2013-14 season.
 
COMING UP
Northeastern State returns to the road to face Lincoln (Mo.) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.