TULSA, Okla. -- Northeastern State began its seventh season under
Ja Havens with a 73-70 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville behind a 24-point debut from
Dylan Golightly.
After fighting to a 23-23 tie with 6:04 remaining in the opening half, the RiverHawks (1-0) stormed to a 37-19 scoring run to flex the team's lead to as high as 18 points with 6:37 to go. The Javelinas (0-1) clawed back to bring the deficit down to as little as two on multiple occasions, including with 15 seconds remaining.
A trey from Golightly with 21 seconds remaining before and a follow-up free throw from
Dylan Tea with eight seconds left assisted NSU's efforts in clinching the win, which was cemented with a missed three-point attempt by the Javelinas with one second to go.
Golightly recorded six of NSU's 19 made field goals, also adding eight converted shots at the charity stripe in the win. Nine of NSU's 19 makes were from beyond the arc, paying dividends on an evening where NSU was limited to 36.5% (19-of-52) shooting overall.
Dylan Tea andÂ
Andreas Grubiša added 11 points, while
Gavin Barnard led on the glass with eight rebounds.
Northeastern State closes competition at the Central Region Challenge in Tulsa with a contest against Henderson State at 7:30 p.m.
