By OAKLEE FIELDER
Sports Editor
The NWOSU men’s basketball team faced off against two teams while on the road last week. Their games were against the Harding University Bison and the Arkansas Tech Wonderboys.
NWOSU 58-Harding 63
They started the road trip against Harding University. It started off with Harding taking and extending the lead.
Once the Bison got to a cushioning lead, the half was a back and forth game. For most of the first half, the Rangers able to get close to the Bison, but never close enough. NWOSU would get closer and Harding would extend the lead again. The entire first half went that way, with Harding getting to an eleven-point difference at one point, until the final minutes. With 3 minutes in the half, Dirin Birhiray and Max Alexander both made layups to make it a three-point game. With a free throw, Harding extended the lead back to a two-score difference. The Rangers fought back and got two free throws with 25 seconds left in the half. With both made by Alexander, the half ended in a 2-point difference.
The second half started off the same. Harding started generating a lead but the Rangers fought back.
The two teams both went back and forth with going on scoring runs. The Bison got to an eleven-point difference, but the Rangers shrunk the lead to four. The teams went back and forth with baskets. The score difference went from three to five multiple times, and then Justin Norris scored a three-pointer to make it a two-point game.
Kabeya Tshibangu then fouled and the Bison took the chance to make it a three-point game.
The Rangers’ Cam McDowell then made a dunk to make it a one-point game. With the pressure on, the Rangers fouled and the difference went to three points again.
Max Alexander shot a three pointer to tie the game, but missed. The Rangers fouled again and Harding finished the game off with two free throws and the Rangers left Harding with a 58-63 loss.
On the way back home, the Rangers took a stop in Russellville, AR to play against Arkansas Tech.
NWOSU 71-ART 66
The Rangers got the first points in the game, but Arkansas Tech took the lead away and extended it to six.
The first half continued as a back and forth between the Rangers and the Wonderboys, until Justin Norris made a three-pointer and had the first multi-score lead for the Rangers. The Wonderboys came back and took the lead from the Rangers. The half ended with a free throw for Arkansas Tech to make it a one-point game 30-31.
The final minute and a half of the first half went scoreless for both teams. The final half of the game started a little rough for the Rangers. The Wonderboys took the lead and had a little cushion. The Rangers didn’t let a little difference stop them, and took the lead away from Arkansas Tech.
The next five minutes of the game was back and forth, exchanging the one-point lead between the two teams multiple times. With free throws, the Wonderboys took the lead by five points. The Rangers did not give up, and once again took the lead by one point.
Logan Phillips and Cam McDowell extended the Rangers’ lead with a three-pointer by Phillips and a dunk by McDowell. With nine minutes left in the game, Arkansas Tech had time to shrink NWOSU’s lead.
Despite the Wonderboy’s efforts, the Rangers kept their foots down and continued to lead in the later parts of the second half. With just 14 seconds in the game left, the desperate Wonderboys shrunk the Ranger’s lead down to just one point. In what to seems to be a reoccurring event, there was a late foul by the team that is down, and the Rangers extended their lead to three. With just three seconds left, Arkansas Tech went for a three throw and missed.
Cam McDowell with the help of Logan Phillips, put the finishing touches for the game and dunked the ball with 1 second left on the clock. The Rangers took down the Wonderboys 71-66.
NWOSU left the state of Arkansas with one win and one loss. Cam McDowell was nominated for the Week 12 GAC Offensive Player of the Week but did not win. The NWOSU Men’s basketball still sits in sixth position in the GAC standings. They will face Henderson State University on Feb 6 and Ouachita Baptist on Feb 8. Both games will be home.