NEO Sports
Monty Franks
TISHOMINGO — Limiting Murray State College to only 23 points in the second half Thursday night, the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Golden Norsemen earned a 67-52 victory in the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference at the Aggie Field House.
“We were a little sketchy through most of the first half,” Golden Norse head coach Dustin Grover said. “But, we were able to really clamp things down in the second half on the defensive end.
“Our offensive performance was okay,” Grover said. “It wasn’t anything outstanding, but we were pretty solid the entire game.”
Even though the Golden Norsemen generated 67 total points on offense, once again they were limited to just one made 3-point field goal the entire game.
“We were still able to pull away although we only hit one three all night,” Grover said. “I think we’re becoming more patient on offense, even though our long range perimeter game still hasn’t been consistent.
“We’re doing a lot better job of taking care of the basketball,” Grover said. “Gradually we’re making small strides in the execution of our offense.”
During the first half, neither team could generate much offensive consistency as the Norsemen clung to a 30-29 lead through the first 20 minutes.
Sophomore power forward Gabriel Ferreira paced the Golden Norse with 18 total points while veteran wing player Kingsley Sam contributed 13 points.
“We rebounded well on both ends of the court,” Grover said. “Murray only had five offensive rebounds which really took away their second-shot opportunities.”
While starting sophomore post Enis Memic (6-9) tallied 12 total points for the Aggies, reserve forward Rodney Hinkle Jr. (6-7) came off the bench to also contribute 12 points.
The loss dropped the Aggies to 4-4 in the conference and 7-10 on the season.