by Ashley Watts, Sports Editor
Northwestern Oklahoma State University basketball took down Harding Satruday during senior day.
Before the start of the game the seniors were recoginzed at half court. The seniors included: Eric Andres Jr., Bryshon Bryant, Bryce Cashman, Hayden Graham, A.J. Jones, David Thornton and Jaedon Whitfield.
Four playrs put up double digit scores for the win over Harding, 78-68.
Whitfield led the Rangers with a double-double. Whitfield had 21 pionts and 13 rebounds for the game. Thornton wasn’t far behind with 18 points and six rebounds. Parrish Hewitt and Cole Jones each put up 12 points on the board.
To start the first half A.J. Jones scored the first basket of the game after NWOSU won the tipoff. From then it was a back and forth battle for the fist half. At the 10 minute mark, Harding was up 16-14 until a turnover by Harding that resulted in a three pointer.
The battle between the Bison and the Rangers continued unitl the Rangers went on a 9-0 run right before halftime. Northwestern headed into the half leading Harding 34-29.
Straight into the seconf half, the Bisons answered with a made three-pointer to put the score 34-32 with the Rangers still on top. After a foul and another basket Harding took the lead away from the Rangers. With 17 minutes left of the game the Rangers still trailed the Bison. The second half went back and forth with lead changes.
It wasn’t until the 13 minute when the Rangers went on scoring run that put them into the lead by eight points. Throughout the rest of the second half, the Rangers led the Bison by as much as 13 points.
With one minute remaining in the Rangers season finale, Hewitt splashed a three-pointer followed by two made free-throws from A.J. Jones that scored teh final points of the season and secured the 10 point win over the Harding Bison for the final game of the season in Percefull Fieldhouse.
The Rangers finished the 2019-2020 season 10-18 overall and 7-15 in the Great American Conference.