by Madison Parrot, Athletic Communications
Northwestern Oklahoma State University broke their losing streak against a higher ranked Great American Conference opponent in Arkansas Tech Saturday evening with only seconds left to play in the game. The Red-and-Black struggled in the first half, with only Parrish Hewitt scoring and trailed by more than 13 points at one time. The second half was a different story as the Rangers rallied back and outscored their opponent 39 to 24 to take the win 67-64. It’s their second time in as many games to have the winning shot come down to the final seconds of the game.
Northwestern’s offense was led by Hewitt who tallied 30 points and eight rebounds while going 6-10 from beyond the three-point line. Other stand-out Rangers included Bryshon Bryant who contributed 10 points and led the team in rebounds with nine. The rest of the points were shared between multiple Red-and-Black members, with Jack Peck tacking on the winning three point shot within the final seconds of the match. Clive Allen led the team with eight assists.
It became a battle of staying in the game to allow NWOSU enough momentum to reach halftime without too much lost. Threes from Hewitt and Cole Jones kept the Northwestern hot on the Wonder Boys tail, but Arkansas Tech kept the lead as they headed into halftime with a score of 28-40.
The biggest advantage that the Rangers took in the second half was their defense.
Hewitt led the comeback with a half-opening three followed by layups from Bryant and Allen to bring the Red-and-Black back to within two at the eleven-minute mark. Back-to-back threes from Hewitt gave the Rangers their first tied score of the half at 53-53 but Arkansas Tech did not allow them to take the lead.
Unfortunately, for the Wonder Boys, the Red-and-Black refused to give up. Led by Hewitt, NWOSU took their first lead of the game 62-60 with only two minutes left to play. An untimely technical foul gave kept the swing on the Northwestern end and despite Arkansas Tech tying the game two more times after the initial lead change NWOSU kept the momentum on their side. A final throw from the Wonder boys was not enough and the Rangers held on to take the win 67-64.
Northwestern’s bench tallied 18 points compared to Arkansas Tech’s 15, which helped the Rangers stay in the game long enough to allow for a battle at the end. The Red-and-Black also led in points off of turnovers with 14 to 10. The Wonder Boys out-rebounded the NWOSU 44 to 40 and earned 15 second chance points but could not fight through turnovers and personal fouls that cause great destruction to their game plan.
The Rangers will head back to Percefull Fieldhouse to host GAC opponent University of Arkansas at Monticello. Tip-off starts at 7:30 after the Lady Ranges play their game Thursday evening.