EDMOND -- Behind a team effort, the RiverHawks snapped an eight-game skid and handed rivals Central Oklahoma an 84-72 defeat on Saturday afternoon.  

The win is the fourth consecutive over Central and third straight for the RiverHawks at Hamilton Field House, the longest streak for the team since the early 2000s. 

Troy Locke, averaging over ten points a game against UCO, continued his hot play against the 'Chos scoring 20 on 8-for-12 shooting.   The senior led the team in rebounding with nine. 

"That was a hard-fought game, and we knew it would be, but I'm really proud of our guys putting together a 40-minute effort, sticking with it, and getting it done," said head coach Ja Havens.  "That was a long time coming, and I'm really happy for them right now, and the feeling that they have is pretty good, but the unfortunate thing is there is no time to dwell on this one because we are going to turn around and see them again at our place tomorrow."

Northeastern State's bench shined and out-scored UCO by 27, the widest margin of the season for the RiverHawks, and had 32 total points.  Rashad Perkins and Christian Cook both scored 13, with Payton Guiot having six. 

Shooting-wise, NSU was 52.5-percent (32-61) from the field and second-best effort of the season.  In the final 20 minutes, they shot 16-for-26

Northeastern State took advantage of a slow start by the Bronchos and led for most of the first half.  Locke and the NSU bench carried the RiverHawks to a 43-37 advantage that was cut by three, with UCO launching a shot at the buzzer from in-between the circles.  The NSU bench outscored the 'Chos by 14 with 19 points, with Rashad Perkins having eight, Guiot landed a pair of treys, and Cook put up five.  Locke paced all players with 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting.  

Central continued to hang with the RiverHawks until the game's final ten minutes, where NSU caught fire shooting 10-for-11 during a three-minute stretch.  Six different RiverHawk players contributed to the fun, with Brad Davis scoring six of eight points during that span. From there, NSU never looked back.

The 'Chos entered the contest winners of seven of their last nine and dropped to 10-8 (10-8 MIAA).  Central had two players 21 points, which was a game-high. 

Obi Agu had 12 points, and Trey Sampson added ten as Northeastern State improves to 3-15 (3-15 MIAA) overall. 

The turnaround will be short for the RiverHawks and Bronchos; they will swap venues and play each other on Sunday (Feb. 21), inside the NSU Event Center.  Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m.; it will be the first time since 1999 that the programs have played each other on consecutive days.

NOTABLES -- Locke recorded his 21st career double-digit game and 13th of the season … largest win margin for Northeastern State at Hamilton Field House since Jan. 27, 2004 (74-61) … The RiverHawks led as many as 16, which is the second-largest lead of the season for the team …Locke had NSU's ninth 20-point game of the season … NSU led the rebounding battle 37-to-32.