TAHLEQUAH -- A hot start from Dillon Bailey and a strong finish from Christian Cook propelled the RiverHawks to an 82-72 win over Newman on Saturday evening inside the NSU Event Center.
The freshman duo scored 29 combined points as NSU snapped a six-game skid, and it was the team's first home win of the season.
"It's been a while since we experienced a winning locker room, and I'm really just thrilled for them," said head coach Ja Havens. We fought down the stretch when they (Newman) chipped into the lead late; I thought we stepped up to make plays late."
"It wasn't a masterpiece. It was what we needed desperately. We had a great first half. I'm mean statistically, our effort level, our defensive intensity to start the game. We told them at halftime that they would come out with intensity...and they did. It was good to see our guys come together and decide that we're going to make the right plays, we're going to make the right passes, we are going to be tough with the ball and step up and make free throws late."
Cook scored 20 points and shot 7-for-10 on the floor to pace all players on the floor. Obi Agu recorded his first double-double in an NSU uniform with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Troy Locke had 12, and Brad Davis came away with ten. Bailey had all nine of his points scored in the first half.
"It was big for me because I was struggling at the beginning of the year," said Cook. "I couldn't put in a three and to come out here and put 20, it was amazing, it was good for my confidence."
DeVonta Prince threw down a pair of dunks on Newman, finishing with eight points and five rebounds.
The RiverHawks blasted past the Jets out of the gates with a 13-0 run and played a strong first half shooting 53.6-percent on the floor (15-28). Bailey paced the RiverHawks with nine points, surpassing his career mark. NSU led as many as 17 points over Newman and took a 39-26 lead into the locker room.
A 12-2 run early in the second half by Newman allowed enough of an opportunity to crawl back into the ballgame. With 4:51 left in the game, the Jets managed to trim down the NSU lead to one (62-61). The RiverHawks responded back with an 8-2 run fueled by a Cook dunk and treys from Agu and Davis.
Saturday's win is the fourth straight for NSU (2-7, 2-7 MIAA) over Newman (2-7, 2-7 MIAA), who has now dropped three in a row. The Jets were led in scoring by Ian Lee, who scored 19 off the bench.
For the second straight game, NSU out-rebounded a team pulled down 38, besting the Jets by nine. The RiverHawks shot a season-high 53.7-percent on the floor on 29-for-54 shooting.
Northeastern State will be away from the Event Center for the next two weeks. However, they will stay close next Saturday, Jan 16, where they will visit Claremore to face Rogers State.
NOTABLES - Northeastern State never trailed the Jets and led as many as 17 points with 1:24 left in the first half. It was the largest lead for the RiverHawks this season … second time this season NSU has a 20-point scorer off the bench, Troy Locke had 21 at Fort Hays State earlier in the season … Cook is the fourth NSU player to score at least 20 points in a game this season … a late foul put Davis at the line where he was able to keep his streak going of consecutive 10+ point outings, the senior is now at seven straight… Locke pushed his consecutive 10+ game streak to five … the RiverHawks are 7-0 against Newman in Tahlequah.
