TAHLEQUAH -- The University of Mary sank a Northeastern State late charge with a buzzer-beating layup, 63-61, on Saturday evening inside the NSU Event Center.
All seven players that logged minutes in the matchup scored at least five points, with
Ethan Blackmon leading NSU in scoring with 18 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double, grabbing nine misses on the evening.
"He's a load," head coach
Ja Havens said of Blackmon, "We've got to find ways to get him the ball in the paint and trust that he's going to make the right play. He's probably going to be drawing some attention and double-teams and we've got to do a good job of cutting and getting open and letting him be a facilitator as well off of that."
The first half consisted of the type of back-and-forth action that persisted throughout the night, as Northeastern State overcame shooting woes from long-range (2-of-13 on three-point shots) in the opening twenty minutes to take a 30-27 lead to the break.
The RiverHawks (1-1) and Marauders (1-1) traded the lead for much of the first twelve minutes of the closing half before Mary forced a tie at 49 apiece with 8:01 remaining and took the lead off a three-point shot with 7:15 left (52-49). After that, NSU played from behind the rest of the way, despite never letting the deficit extend past five points.
Ultimately, off of free throw shooting woes from the Marauders (4-of-13 in the second half) and a three-point basket from
Marcus Scott V with nine seconds remaining, NSU forced a tie once again at 61.
The RiverHawks needed one final stop to force overtime against the Marauders with 7.8 seconds to go. In one last gasp in regulation, Mary found a big play off a drive to the basket to secure the win.
"The team that had the ball last got the last shot and won it … didn't think we did a bad job on the last seven seconds, but seven seconds is a long time to try and guard a guy driving downhill," said Havens.
Northeastern State heads back on the floor Wednesday, Nov. 15 to do battle with Haskell at 8 p.m. in the NSU Event Center.
