Box Score By Jim Ellis jellis@miaminewsrecord.com
  

MIAMI —Northeastern A&M avenged its only conference loss in a big way.

Getting a double double from Dylan Van Eyck and double-point efforts from four others, the Golden Norsemen notched a 94-81 win over Eastern Oklahoma State College Thursday, Jan. 31 at the NEO Field House.

"That's feels great," Norse coach Jeremy Jackson said. "That was on our mind, but there wasn't a rah-rah speech before the game. They are the only team that beat us in the conference, so now, no team can sweep us.

"We've taken care of business at home thus far (improving to 9-0) and we're going to go on the road Monday to Redlands and keep this train rolling."

Van Eyck had his third double double in four games for NEO, logging 22 points and 17 rebounds.

He also had 11 rebounds and 12 points against Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa and 12 boards and 17 points vs. Western.

"What a game for Dylan Van Eyck," Jackson said. "He's a leader, which is hard to find in today's generation. He does a really good job for us."

The Norsemen (18-5) improved to 8-1 in Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference play and maintain a game-lead over Connors State College — which hosts NEO on Feb. 14.

Samkelo Cele added 20 points, Valentin Van Putten 15, Kyle Lukasiewicz 14 and Rudi Williams 12 for the Norsemen, who now have scored 90 or more points in seven games and three out of the last five.

Of NEO's 74 field goal attempts, only 15 were from behind the 3-point arc.

Eastern (17-4, 5-4) launched 38 3-point attempts, 24 in the first half, connecting on 13 total.

The Norsemen only led by two at the half, 50-48, but held a 44-33 advantage over the final 20 minutes.

However, they were ballooned that up by as many as 17 midway through the second, 78-61.

"They would not guard the basket," Jackson said. "They just kept giving us layups. My thought was why take 3s and jump shots if they were going to give us layups. We decided to attack them. We extended our defense out a little because they can shoot the ball."

NEO also got three points from Jeremiah Morris and two each from Melo Williams and Kyrele Benford.

The Norsemen, working on a 10-game winning streak, were 8-0 in January.

Monday starts a three-game road trip for the Norsemen.

They travel to Murray State on Monday, Feb. 11, and then are at Connors.

NEO's next home game won't be until Monday, Feb. 18 with Western.

G'Quavious Lennox was the Mountaineers' leading scorer with 22 points.

Stefone Richardson and Jace Pratt added 15 and 12, respectively.