The Northern Oklahoma College Mavericks men's basketball team found a way to grind out a low scoring affair with a 66-53 victory over the NEO Norseman at Foster-Piper Fieldhouse on Thursday night.

Northern jumped out to an early 5-0 start followed by an NEO timeout.  Northern pushed the lead to 40-24 at halftime behind three Demaree King three point baskets.

The second half is when the grinding play began.  Both teams really struggled to score.  Northern maintained a 8-10 point lead the entire half, but both teams missed lots of layups, had unforced turnovers and were both short on a lot of shots.  With the lead at 8 points for the Mavs, Khobe Austin-Johnson stole the ball and finished a layup on the other end to push the lead back to double figures to gain back momentum for the home team.  The Mavs prevailed, even though it wasn't the prettiest.

"Conference play is different than non-conference play," said NOC head men's basketball coach Donnie Jackson.  "Teams are more seasoned, teams have seen more film, and the focus and intensity is just different.  I'm proud of the guys for finding a way to win a grinding out conference game."

With the win, the Mavericks improve to 9-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play.

"NEO is a good team.  It was important for us to protect our home court against a team that will be in the upper echelon of conference and always is year in and year out," said Jackson.

Anselm Uzuegbunem was big for the Mavs.  He led them  in scoring with 16 points and in rebounds with 11.  Trevion Lamar followed with 14 points and Amir Allen chipped in 10 points, respectively.

"Big A (Anselm Uzuegbunem) was huge for us tonight and has been the past several games.  He is playing how a sophomore is supposed to play," said Jackson.

Dylan Van Eyck led NEO in scoring with 16 points and Cedric Ward followed iwth 12 points.  The Mavs held the Norse to 27% shooting from the field.

Up next for the Mavs is national power Hill College (TX).  Hill is currently 9-1 on the season and will prove to be a tough test for the Mavericks.

"We will need to be ready to defend.  Hill likes to play fast, they push it well in transition, they are athletic and they have several guys that can make shots.  We will need to be ready to play," said Jackson.

Tipoff for the NOC/Hill game will be at 4:00 pm on Saturday, December 2nd.