TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The hot shooting RiverHawks of Northeastern State University defeated the William Woods University men's basketball team, 81-66, on Monday night in an exhibition contest at the NSU Event Center.
 
The RiverHawks shot 54.7 percent from the floor and hit 15 threes in the contest; including ten in the second half. Leading the Owls was DaShaun Stark with 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting. Darrien Dickey followed with 18 points rounding out the Owls double-figure scorers. The Owls shot 47.2 percent from the field in the contest.
 
WWU returns to action on Saturday, January 20th when they host Park University in American Midwest Conference action. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Owls scored the first basket of the game two minutes in when Darrien Dickey hit a jumper. After his jumper the Owls did not score for two minutes until Dickey hit another jumper, tying the game at 4-4. WWU scored its sixth point two minute later on a layup by DaShaun Stark put the Owls down 9-6.
 
Trailing 10-6, with 13:25 left in the first half, the Owls went on a 6-0 run that put William Woods ahead 10-6. During the run, Dickey hit a jumper and Stark was four-for-four from the free throw line. After taking the lead, the Owls and RiverHawks traded buckets.
 
Jason Walker hit a three-pointer with 7:26 left in the half putting the Owls ahead, 20-18. The lead lasted one possession as Northeastern State came down and hit a three of their own. Over the next three minutes, neither team would hold a lead larger than two points until the Owls went on a 6-0 run taking a 31-26 lead with 2:57 left in the first half.
 
Northeastern State cut the Owls lead down to two points, 36-34, heading into halftime.
 
The Owls and RiverHawks came out trading baskets and with the Owls ahead, 43-40, the RiverHawks went on a 9-0 run. During the run, Northeastern State hit two threes and had a three-point play taking a 49-43 lead with 15:37 left in the game.
 
Trailing by six, the Owls answered with a 6-0 run tying the contest at 49-49. During the run, Dickey had a three-point play, Stark had a tip in and Makenzie Fessler hit a free throw tying the contest with 14:11 left.
 
After the Owls tied the game at 49-49, Northeastern State went on a 12-2 run taking a 10-point lead, 61-61. WWU continued to battle and cut the lead down to eight, 68-60, after a pair of Fessler free throws with 5:04 left.
 
Eight points would be as close as they would get as the RiverHawks grew the lead to as many 14 late in the contest. WWU was held without a field goal for the final 2:38 of the game and the Owls were defeated by Northeastern State, 81-66, in an exhibition contest.
 
By the Numbers
30 – DaShaun Stark led the Owls with 30 points
18 – Darrien Dickey rounded out the double-figure scorers with 18
10 – The Owls collected 10 offensive rebounds in the contest
47.2 – WWU shot 47.2 percent from the field
7 – William Woods had seven steals in the contest
9 – The Owls had nine assists in the game
11-of-16 – Stark shot 11-for-16 on the night from the field
30 – WWU scored 30 points in the paint
15 – Northeastern State hit 15 three-pointers in the contest