The Northern Oklahoma College Mavericks split a pair of games with Eastern Thursday night at Foster-Piper Fieldhouse.

The NOC men (8-0) won 96-74, the Lady Mavs (2-5) lost 97-61.

Mavs 96, Eastern 74

The 7th ranked NOC Mavs broke open a close game at half with Eastern dominating the second half winning 96-74.

NOC (8-0) improved to 3-0 in conference play.

The Mavs and Eastern went toe to toe in the first half, Eastern taking a 46-44 lead at half.

After Eastern started the second half with a 6-0 run taking a 52-44 lead, the Mavs then rebounded with a 17-2 run of their own to build a 72-56 lead and were never threatened again by the Mountaineers.

“Eastern really came to play,” said coach Donnie Jackson.“I told the guys that they hadn’t been shooting it well, but that they were more than capable. They definitely proved that theory correct in the first half.”

“We tightened things up in the second half,” he added.“We were able to manufacture some energy off of our defense and that got us going.”

JD Ray led then Mavs with 20 points, 16 coming in the second half.Tyrel Morgan added 17 while Avante Lederer had 14, and Dylan McLean 12.

“We will take the win,” he said. “We can’t afford to allow Enid to feel comfortable on our home court on Saturday. They can really, really shoot it and have some veterans back that are extremely good Region 2 players. Coach Gerber has them playing at a high level. It is a very important game in Region play.”

The Mavs host NOC Enid Saturday at 4 p.m.

Mavs 96, Eastern 74

12—Total

Eastern46 28--74

Mavs44 52--96

Mavs—J. Ray 20, T. Morgan 17, A. Lederer 14, D. McLean 12, J. Wilson 9, N. Goodlow 6, M. Crawford 6, M. Berry 4, S. Grisby 4, K. Sesberry 4.

Eastern 97, Lady Mavs 61

The NOC Lady Mavs dropped their first conference game of the season Thursday night 97-61 to Eastern.

NOC (2-5) dropped to 2-1 in conference play.

NOC trailed Eastern 29-28 when the Mountaineers went on a 15-4 run to end the half taking a 44-32 lead.

The Lady Mavs stayed within striking distance at 57-45 before Eastern went on another run to keep the Lady Mavs at bay.

“Games like this highlight how much work there is always to do and how important it is to work at improving every day,” said coach Greg Krause.“Every conference game is going to be a battle. Now is no time to look backwards. We have two more conference opponents on Saturday and Monday. I think it’s good to get back on the court as quickly as possible and jump right back into competition.”

Gavriel Myers led the Lady Mavs with 13 while Delaney Reimer and Chloe Brinlee had 12 points each.

Reimer and Travisha Cogdell had eight rebounds each, Mia Brown as three assists.

The Lady Mavs host NOC Enid Saturday at 2 p.m.

Eastern 97, Lady Mavs 61

1 2 3 4—Total

Eastern2024 24 29--97

Lady Mavs1616 16 13--61

Lady Mavs—G. Myers 13, D. Reimer 12, C. Brinlee 12, C. Moore 8, T. Cogdell 6, R. Zhivachka 5, M. Brown 2, Clemons 2, L. Coates 1.