HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Shelton State won its first round matchup with Northeastern in the NJCAA Tournament 79-66 on the strength of its free throw shooting.
The Buccaneers went 24 of 29 from the charity stripe, as compared to just 13 of 17 for the Plainsmen.
Shelton State looked like they had things well under control with a 17 point lead at the 17:12 mark of the game, but Northeastern scratched and clawed to as close as six in the game's final four minutes at 66-60 before the Buccaneers hit back-to-back buckets to stretch the lead to 10 and Northeastern only got as close as eight after that.
Shelton State had four players in double figures, led by 19 points from Willie Johnson, Justin Bufford had 17, Andres Burney had 14 and Thaddeus Williams added 12. Northeastern saw Dalton Knecht hit for 21 points, Jared Adams had 15 and Cyler Kane-Johnson had 13.
Shelton State advances to play Chipola Wednesday at 8 p.m. Northeastern ends its season at 15-5.