By RANGERS ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
With the Great American Conference’s post-season picture still up in the air, the Rangers rode into Oklahoma Baptist with a good opportunity to keep their season hopes alive. Coming off back to back losses in Weatherford against SWOSU and at home against East Central, Northwestern was in need of a big road win.
Both teams got off to a slow start in the first half, combining for just 54 points in the frame. Northwestern took a 31-23 lead into the break
The Bison have had a rough go this season and currently sit last in the GAC standings. The lone bright spot for Oklahoma Baptist has been Chandler Rickey, who is eighth in the conference in scoring with 15.4 points per game. Rickey dropped a game-high 24 points against the Rangers on Saturday afternoon, after Northwestern held him to just 12 points in the first matchup.
Adrian Motley led the Rangers in the first half, going 4-for-9 from the field and adding two free throws. Both teams committed nine turnovers in the low scoring half, but the Rangers managed to shoot 54.5 percent to give them the eight point advantage. Brandon Green continued his helping ways, notching all five of his assists in the first half.
Oklahoma Baptist came out firing in the second half going on a 10-0 run to take the lead after four minutes of play. Relying heavily on their starting five, the Bison got only four of their 70 points off the bench. Rickey appeared to take over on both sides of the ball, finishing the game with 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Those three blocks gave Rickey the GAC single-season record, as he now has 65 with two games remaining.
Cooling off in the second half, the Ranger shooters were held to 35 percent on 12-of-34 from the field. Deiondray Martin had a solid game, going 5-for-9 for 14 points. OBU extended their lead to 10 with 2:23 remaining, but the determined Northwestern squad refused to back down.
A 3-pointer from Martin, plus a dunk and a layup by Motley clipped the Bison lead to five before deep ball specialist Cody Halvorson was fouled by Vladimir Nemcok beyond the arc, leading to three free throws. Halvorson drained all three from the charity stripe to make it a 69-67 Bison lead with just 14 seconds left. A foul on Timotis Kuckailis by Zachary Dumas gave OBU the chance to bury the Rangers, but Kuckailis only made one of his free throws.
Down by three with 10 seconds remaining, the Rangers had two heavily pressured shots from deep that just wouldn’t fall, as the Bison held on to take this one 70-67.
Northwestern will return home for their final two games of the regular season as they host Henderson State on Thursday, and then Ouachita Baptist on Saturday. Saturday will be senior day in Percefull Fieldhouse.