EDMOND -- Christian Cook made his first nine buckets as Northeastern State overcame an uneven start and finish to beat the University of Mary 80-70 Friday afternoon.  

Cook led all scorers on the floor with 24 points and sank four three-pointers in the win.  In their first game at NSU, Tylor Arnold and Emeka Obukwelu recorded double-doubles. 

Obukwelu had 23 points and ten rebounds.  Arnold scored 13 with ten boards and paced the team with six assists. 

The RiverHawks (1-0) shot 55.8-percent (29-52) from the field, landing 11 three-pointers on the Marauders (0-1).  

Both teams exchanged the lead until the final nine minutes of the first half, where the RiverHawks finished the opening 20 minutes on an 18-11 run.  Cook scored seven of his nine first-half points during the final 8:46 of the half, with NSU shooting 7-12 during that span.  UMary went scoreless in the final three minutes, with NSU scoring five unanswered to head to the locker room with a 33-25 lead. 

Northeastern State came out of the locker room blazing, making nine of their first ten shots, expanding their lead out to 20 with nine minutes to go.  A Mary 9-0 run in the closing minutes prevented the RiverHawks from closing the door.  With just a minute in the game, Mary narrowed the gap to 73-66 before NSU iced the game at the free-throw line. 

Mary was led by Kan Warrens who had 16 points.  The Marauders did finish with a 33-30 rebounding edge over the RiverHawks. 

The RiverHawks return to action Saturday where they will face Northwestern Oklahoma at 3 p.m. in Edmond.