TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State kicked off a five-game homestand by hitting the century mark for the second time this season with a 100-74 thrashing of Southwestern Christian Monday evening inside the NSU Event Center.

The RiverHawks opened the game with 11 unanswered points and never looked back in their final tune-up before MIAA play this Thursday to move to 7-1 overall.

Despite the lopsided win, the Eagles' put up a season-high 74 points on NSU who entered the contest with the nation's best scoring defense.

 "We didn't really defend well, that's what stood out to me," said head coach Mark Downey. "I just told the guys, you know that team's talented, they can score, they really can. I didn't think we were completely, I don't know if you want to say ready to go or locked in, but we just didn't defend very well and gave up a lot of baskets, we talked about in scouting report, and we got to be better."

Southwestern Christian, played NSU as an exhibition, finished the night shooting 42.1-percent and landing a season-high 11 three-pointers on the RiverHawks.

The RiverHawks had five in double figures with Bradley George having a season-high 17 points off 6-of-9 shooting. Caleb Smith and Iain McLaughlin both had 15 points. McLaughlin landed five treys while Smith had five assists and five rebounds. Troy Locke and Josh Ihek came off the bench with 13 points; both are season highs for the pair. Ihek played a game-high 24 minutes and had seven rebounds.

NSU shot 56.3-percent (36-64) from the field and was 12-for-29 from the arc.  On the glass, they out-rebounded the Eagles 37-to-23.

"Bradley George had a great game, Iain McLaughlin made some shots which is nice he's really been shooting the ball well, and we had some bright spots, but we've got to be better than what we were tonight in the MIAA," added Downey.

Northeastern State will host Newman (4-3) Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Tahlequah; it will be the first conference meeting between the two programs.