TAHLEQUAH – Recording arguably its most impressive – and unexpected – win of the basketball season, Northeastern State led nearly all the way on Saturday afternoon while knocking off conference power Washburn (Kan.) 75-66 in the NSU Events Center.
Five players scored in double figures for NSU (8-13, 3-12 MIAA) as the RiverHawks downed a team that entered the game in third place in the MIAA standings and had beaten them by 36 points (84-48) on Dec. 19. On Saturday, NSU trailed Washburn (14-7, 10-5) for all of 54 seconds and never by more than one point. NSU led for more than 37 minutes and pulled away over the final minutes to seal the win.
Washburn took its final lead at 55-54 on a jumper by Jack Bachelor with 9:11 left, which capped an 11-0 run by the Ichabods.
Anthony Allen put NSU back ahead with a driving layup 26 seconds later, then assisted on a driving layup by
Ethan Blackmon, on which Blackmon was fouled. Blackmon made the ensuing free throw before making another layup with 6:11 left to put the RiverHawks up 61-55.
The Ichabods closed the gap to 61-59 before
Caison Hartloff answered for NSU with a 3-pointer with 4:05 left and
Jaxon Jones scored with 3:37 left, extending NSU's lead to 66-59. Washburn came no closer than five points the rest of the way.
Hartloff led NSU with 17 points, making 3 of 5 3-point attempts.
Keon Edwards (14 points), Blackmon (13 points),
Anthony Allen (10 points, three blocked shots) and Jones (10 points, a season-high nine assists, five rebounds) also scored in double figures for the RiverHawks.
Only two other players saw action for NSU –
Seth Pratt (six points, six rebounds) and
Trey Quartlebaum (five points, five rebounds).
A 7-0 spurt by NSU gave the RiverHawks an early 10-4 lead and they led 23-11 midway through the first half after a 3-pointer by Jones. Washburn scored the final five points of the half to pull within 40-35.
Brady Christiansen led Washburn with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jarmell Johnson scored 11 points for Washburn while Bachelor had 10 points and seven assists. The RiverHawks limited Washburn's leading scorer, 6-foot-8 forward Andrew Orr, to a season-low two points. He fouled out with 2:25 left.
NSU's win narrowed Washburn's lead in the all-time series between the schools to 12-11.
NSU will host in-state rival Rogers State next Saturday.
