TULSA - Ethan Blackmon landed a game-high 22 points as Northeastern State dropped their exhibition opener 82-68 at the University of Tulsa on Monday evening.  The RiverHawks outshot the Golden Hurricane who were playing their season opener at the Reynolds Center. 

Blackmon shot 10-for-13 on the floor and led the RiverHawks with seven rebounds.  Trey Phipps had 16 points in his unofficial NSU debut and Keon Edwards added 14 points in 18 minutes of action. 

The RiverHawks shot 46.6 percent from the field to Tulsa's 44.4 percent with the Golden Hurricane having 11 three-pointers, just two more than NSU's total.  Tulsa led the rebounding battle over NSU by just three (38-35). 

In the first half, Northeastern State trimmed a double-digit lead down to 23-21 with 5:55 left.  The Golden Hurricane took the momentum into the intermission scoring 12 unanswered points and shooting 6-for-7 on the floor to carry a 37-27 lead.   

NSU got off to a fast start out of the locker room in the second half making six of their first seven shots to cut Tulsa's lead to 46-42 by the 15:42 mark.  Following a timeout the Golden Hurricane extended their lead back out to double digits with a 10-2 run to carry them to their 23rd win over NSU. 

Tulsa (1-0) had five players in double-figures with Keaston Willis leading them with 17 points.  The 14-point win margin for TU over NSU is the narrowest since 1982 between the two programs. 

The RiverHawks open its regular season with Northwestern Oklahoma on Friday at 5:30 p.m., that contest will be played in Edmond on the campus of Central Oklahoma.