Box Score SHAWNEE - Proving the old coaching adage "it's tough to beat a team three times in one year" correct, the No.5 seed Northeastern A&M Golden Norsemen defeated No. 4 seed Murray State College 67-55 Wednesday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Men's Division 1 Region 2 Tournament in Oklahoma Baptist University's Noble Complex. 


"I was a little disappointed in the way we ended the regular season and I was kind of hoping we could catch fire coming into the playoffs," Golden Norse head coach Dustin Grover said. "We caught some rhythm in the first half and didn't ever let Murray take control." 
With the victory, the Golden Norse carry an 18-13 season record into Friday's 3 p.m. semifinal matchup against No. 8 seed Eastern State College. The Mountaineers (17-15) upset No. 1 seed Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa (27-4) by a 77-68 score Wednesday night.
Winner of the NEO-Eastern game faces the winner of the No. 3 seed Northern Oklahoma-Enid (16-13) versus No. 2 seed Connors State (22-7) or No. 7 seed Seminole State (11-18) game in Friday's 1 p.m. semifinal. The Connors-Seminole contest was Wednesday's 8 p.m. game.
Both semifinal winners earn an automatic berth to the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament, March 13-18 in Hutchinson, Kan., win or lose in Saturday's 6 p.m. regional title game. 
After losing both regular season games to Murray (15-14), the Golden Norse only trailed twice (5-3) and 18-17) the entire game. Behind seven points from Jeff Newberry and six points each from Frederico Santos and Luther Thomas, the Norsemen constructed a 27-21 lead at halftime.
Newberry led all scorers with 20 points while Ja'mill Powell contributed 19 and Santos tallied 17 points and 15 rebounds for NEO. Thomas added six, Jake Roach three and Derrick Frye two.
Gary Inglett paced the Aggies with 17 points, Tim Smallwood 15, Dvonte Davis 10, Trai Jordan six, Dante Wartson five and Dusan Pantovic two.