Tulsa - Marlon Burnett's 24 points weren't enough as Northeastern State dropped to 1-1 with a 68-63 loss at Harding (AR) Thursday night in Searcy, Arkansas.

Things looked good for the RiverHawks early, racing out to a 23-14 lead on Burnett's layup with 7:18 left in the first half. But, Harding (2-0) scored 19 straight to end the half and led 33-23 at the break.

Northeastern State used a 7-2 run to start the second half to pull within five points on a pair of Burnett free throws with 17:34 left, but they'd get no closer. Harding pushed the lead back to as many as 13 before NSU trimmed it to five by scoring the final four points of the game.

Joining Burnett in double figures for NSU was Antoine Branch, who was 4-of-6 from three-point range and finished with 16 points and Jason Jones, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Matt Garner led Harding with 18 points.

The RiverHawks will return to action Monday night at Southern Arkansas at 7 p.m.

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