By OAKLEE FIELDER
The men’s basketball team defeated the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Bulldogs in a close game, ending in a 73-80 victory for Northwestern in the rivalry game.
The Rangers faced the Bulldogs on January 22 in a home game that was important to the Rangers’ playoff hunt. The Rangers entered the game 7-9 in a tight battle with Arkansas Tech and Henderson State for the number five spot in the Great American Conference standings. The stands were filled in Percefull Fieldhouse for whiteout night.
The Bulldogs had a good start, earning five points before the Rangers were able to respond. After a foul from SWOSU, Keyondre Young scored the Rangers’ first points with two free throws. After closing the Bulldogs’ lead, the Rangers took the lead by one. Then, the Rangers went on a run to extend their lead to double digits.
The Rangers were up by 10 with three minutes left in the half, but the Bulldogs scored two layups to make it a six-point game.
The start of the second half was quick; the Bulldogs scored a layup, which was responded to by one from NWOSU’s Robbie Armbrester. Then, Southwestern hit another layup to make it a four-point game.
A three-pointer from Max Alexander extended the Rangers’ lead, and then there were three points from Kenny Burns III to make it an eight-point game. Then the two teams battled hard. The Bulldogs would attempt to reel the Rangers in, but the Rangers wouldn’t let Southwestern get too close.
In the late stages of the game, the Rangers were only up by five. After a foul on Northwestern, the Bulldogs hit two free throws to make it a three-point game. Justin Norris hit a shot in the paint and gave the Rangers a two-possession lead with just 23 seconds left in the game. Southwestern attempted two three-pointers, but missed on both shots. They then attempted to purposely foul the Rangers, but there was not enough time for a comeback.
Norris hit two free throws and gave the Rangers a 7-point lead with four seconds left. The Bulldogs attempted another shot, but it was worth nothing, and the Rangers defeated the Bulldogs.
Armbrester was awarded the GAC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against SWOSU. He had nine defensive rebounds, one offensive rebound, a steal and one blocked shot. Armbrester scored 10 points against the Bulldogs and has 7.2 rebounds per game, the third-best in the conference. Alexander was nominated for a player of the week but was not selected.
Alexander made eight field goals, two three-pointers and seven free throws against SWOSU. Norris didn’t miss a single shot against the Bulldogs, going 4-4 on field goals, 2-2 on three pointer and 2-2 on free throws. Armbrester, Burns III and Dirin Birhiray all recorded one block. Armbrester, Young, and Cam’ron Brown had one steal to their names.
Alexander currently leads the conference in scoring. He has 378 points scored with the most free throws and field goals with 117 and 120. Armbrester is 10th in the conference in scoring with a total of 208 points scored. Armbrester has 101 field goals scored but only just two three-pointers and four free throws. Armbrester is thrd in the conference in field goal percentage. He’s made 101 of the 150 shots he’s attempted, giving him a .673 field goal percentage.
Brown is fouth in the conference in assists. Brown has a total of 62 assists throughout the season and an average of 3.6 per game.
The next game for the Rangers is on Thursday against Harding University. Then, they will face Arkansas Tech at home on Saturday. Harding had an overall record of 12-5 and sits in the 3rd position in the GAC standings. Arkansas Tech sits just one spot under the Rangers in the standings as they have the same conference record, but the Arkansas Tech have one more overall loss than NWOSU. NWOSU lost in the last meetings with both teams.