TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State men's basketball opens its 95th season Friday night, where they will face Northwestern Oklahoma for the first day of the Central Region Challenge before taking on UMary on Saturday night. Both matchups have a 7:30 start time and take place inside the NSU Event Center.

The Setup
- Ja Havens opens his fourth season at the helm of the Northeastern State men's basketball program.
- The RiverHawks are entering their 12th season as members of the MIAA and 27th season as an NCAA Division II program.  
- Friday opens a 28-game season and six-game non-conference slate for the RiverHawks. NSU opens conference play on Nov. 30 in Tahlequah against Fort Hays State. 

Storylines
- Northeastern State was picked to finish in ninth place in the MIAA Coaches Poll and 12th in the MIAA Media Poll in October.
- NSU's starting rotation will look very different this season, as the RiverHawks don't bring back any of last season's regular starters. 
- Ryan Gendron made the most appearances of all returners in the 2022-23 season, seeing action in 24 games and receiving two starts. Gendron averaged 4.4 points and 3.5 rebounds a game, while shooting a 38.9% clip from beyond the arc, the third-best among NSU players with more than ten attempts. 
- The RiverHawks welcome eight newcomers to their basketball program in 2023-24, with three having previous playing time in NCAA basketball. 
- Graduate transfer Marcus Scott V takes his talents to Tahlequah after spending time at Savannah State and Central State. Across his previous two stops, Scott scored 1,198 points and averaged over 14 points per game. A strong shooter from deep, he has landed 219 three-pointers over his collegiate career. 
- Graduate transfer Trey Quartlebaum lettered four times at NCAA Division I St. Francis, playing in 101 games and starting in ten. Quartlebaum averaged 12 minutes per game and scored 326 points across his career with the Red Flash, highlighted by a career-best 17 across playing the full 40 minutes against Merrimack as a senior (Feb. 23, 2023).
- Keon Edwards comes to the program after spending his first three seasons at the Division I level at DePaul (2020-21), Nebraska (2021-22) and UW-Milwaukee (2022-23). Edwards played in 16 games and started in three contests during the 2022-23 campaign with the Panthers. 
- Local Tahlequah product Jaxon Jones is in his fourth season at NSU. Jones was one of the team's top players off the bench when healthy last season, averaging 20.6 minutes per game across 16 appearances. Anthony Allen and Shakeil Bertrand also return after seeing action in 22 and 19 games, respectively, as members of the team's second unit.

Northeastern State vs. Northwestern Oklahoma // November 10 at 7:30 p.m. // Live Coverage

About Northwestern Oklahoma
- The Rangers are coming off a 2022-23 season where they went 11-15 and finished the campaign with four straight losses and seven defeats across their last nine. 
- Head men's basketball coach Robbie Harman enters his second season leading the program. Harman spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Davenport University prior to being named head coach at Northwestern. 
- The Rangers were picked to finish ninth in the GAC Coaches Poll. 
- Despite losing last season's GAC scoring leader in Malik Parsons (24.8 points per game), the top three scorers behind him return, highlighted by Brian Free (13.3 PPG) and Larry White (11.8). 

Last Time They Met
Northwestern Oklahoma 66, Northeastern State 58 | Nov. 13, 2021 | Edmond, Okla.

- Northwestern Oklahoma never trailed in the contest. 
- Northeastern State struggled to find their footing offensively early, shooting just 25% from the floor in the first half and missing all 12 of their tries from three-point range.
- Jaxon Jones connected on three second-half triples to finish third on the team in scoring that night (11 points) in his fifth game as a RiverHawk. 

Series Notes
- It is one of NSU's oldest series, starting in 1927 in the third year of the men's basketball program.
- The Rangers lead the all-time series 65-60. 
- One of NSU's oldest series that started in 1927 in the third year of the men's basketball program.

Northeastern State vs. UMary // November 11 at 7:30 p.m. // Live Coverage

About UMary
- The Marauders went 11-15, ending the season with five straight losses, all of which came by double-digits. 
- UMary was picked to finish 13th this season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
- Jack Nelson is in his third season as the head men's basketball coach for the program. Prior to coming to Bismarck, Nelson spent three seasons as the associate head coach at Sioux Falls. 
- Four of the team's top five scorers from last season are gone. Zyon Smith highlights the team's returners, as he finished third among UMary players with 11.7 PPG in 2022-23. 

Last Time They Met
Northeastern State 80, UMary 70 | Nov. 12, 2021 | Edmond, Okla.

- Christian Cook (24 points) and Emeka Obukwelu (23) combined for the majority of NSU's scoring in the double-digit victory. 
- The RiverHawks sank 11 treys on 23 attempts (47.8%) to help in the winning effort.
- Jaxon Jones is the only current member of the NSU roster that saw playing time in this contest.

Series Notes
- The RiverHawks have taken both of the meetings in the series (85-54 on Nov. 9, 2019 and 80-70 on Nov. 12, 2021).