TAHLEQUAH – A 20-point effort from Kendrick Thompson helped guide the RiverHawks to their ninth win of the season and sent rivals Central Oklahoma back home with 80-68 loss on Saturday evening.

The win gives NSU a perfect 2-0 start to MIAA play and their fourth consecutive win overall.

"Our last goal on the board was play for each other, win for each other. When you have 22 assists and four turnovers, that's playing for each other," said head coach Mark Downey. "I just asked the guys if we've played our best yet, and they answered no. I thought we played good, but I didn't think we played our best."

"Coach (Bob) Hoffman does an unbelievable job. They switch defenses a lot and try to make the game really ugly, which I do, I like to make it ugly but we do it a little different way. But he's always got you guessing, he's got your guys guessing, makes them a little timid, and I thought we missed a lot of baskets when we were wide open right around the rim, but fortunately, we didn't miss them outside the arc."

Thompson hit 20-points the second time this season, and his seven assists are a high mark for the senior.

Caleb Smith recorded his 35th double-digit game with 17 points and five rebounds. Bradley George added 12, and Troy Locke scored ten.

Offensive boards kept the first half close with Central out-doing the RiverHawks 7-to-1 and grabbing eight-second chance points. Northeastern State shot a strong half going 56-percent from the field, but the eight-point difference on the offensive glass kept the Bronchos close at 31-25 into the locker room. Both Smith and Thompson led NSU with nine points.

NSU continued to hold its lead in the second half but couldn't pull away on UCO. It wasn't until a 17-8 run inside the final six minutes that gave them enough distance to ice the win. During the run, NSU went 5-for-6 from the field, with George scoring seven.

The RiverHawks (9-1, 2-0 MIAA) finished the night shooting 29-for-54 on the floor and making ten three-pointers. On the glass, they trailed Central 34-to-27. Turnovers by the RiverHawks were limited to four, which is a season-low.

The win over Central snapped a three-game winning streak for the 'Chos in Tahlequah and drops them to 3-7 overall and 0-2 in league play.

Northeastern State will be off until Dec. 17, where they will wrap up non-conference action against Missouri S&T inside the Event Center at 7 p.m.