WARNER – Things have become pretty simplistic for the Northeastern A&M Golden Norsemen as they travel Thursday to the Melvin Self Fieldhouse for an 8 p.m. clash with 26th ranked Connors State College.


“All we have to do to be able to win on the road consistently is hit free throws and rebound,” Golden Norse head coach Dustin Grover said. “We didn't do either one Monday night at Altus and it resulted in a 76-73 loss.
“This is a basic basketball principal and the games we've lost all year have been because we didn't hit free throws and we didn't rebound,” Grover said. “These were the two main factors in our losses at  Tishomingo (65-69), Tonkawa (74-76) and Altus.”
Prior to returning home Monday for a 8 p.m. “Think Pink Night” game with Murray State, the Golden Norse are 7-5 in the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference and 14-10 overall.
Longtime head coach Bill Muse has guided the Connors State Cowboys to an 8-4 mark in the conference and a 17-5 season record. The Cowboys were upset 76-72 Monday night by Redlands in El Reno.
Two freshmen combined for 49 points to lead the Golden Norsemen to a 96-85 upset on Jan. 8 over 16th-ranked in the NEO Fieldhouse. Jeff Newberry (6-2 from Atlanta, Ga.) led all scorers with 28 total points as the Norse erased a 16-5 deficit in the first five minutes of the game to trail 42-36 at halftime.
Freshman forward Frederico Santos (6-5 from Brazil) contributed 21 points and 12 rebounds as NEO pulled away from a 62-62 tie with 10 minutes left in the game. The Norse sank 19 of 26 free throws in the second half compared to 8 of 16 for the Cowboys.
Hakeem Harris paced the Cowboys with 26 total points while Josh Cameron added 21.