By Denise Cronister
Student Reporter
On Nov. 17, the Northwestern Rangers Basketball team played in exhibition action as the Rangers took the hardwood at home for the first time this season.
The Langston Lions won 70-63 in a game that saw 17 lead changes, but Ranger head coach Shawn Dirden used the opportunity to get 13 different players into live-game action.
Northwestern’s offense was led by a trio of Bryshon Bryant, A.J. Jones and John Godwin who all had 12 points each.
6’8” center Treyvon Andres recorded a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Northwestern didn’t have its best night at the charity stripe as they shot 42 percent from the line (8-for19).
The Rangers defense held strong for most of the night, holding Langston to 34 percent from the field and 21 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
The Rangers also had eight steals including three from Jones and two from Andres.
The two teams were tied with under four minutes to play, but Northwestern went 0-for-6 from the field over a three-minute span allowing the Lions to build a four-point edge.
Langston shooters hit their free throws in final minute, handing Northwestern a 70-63 loss in the exhibition game.
Northwestern Oklahoma State University men’s basketball held off Metropolitan State Denver in a 69-65 victory for the Rangers’ first win of the 2018-19 season.
JJ Moorer paced the Rangers with a game-high 28 points and Treyvon Andres chipped in 18 points and nine rebounds.
The Denver, Colorado native went a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point territory and had two blocked shots in front of friends and family.
Andres gave the Rangers a late 62-61 lead with a deep three from the top of the arc and Northwestern never looked back.
On the next four possessions, the Rangers defense held the Roadrunners scoreless before David Thornton hit four free throws to put Metro State away.
The NWOSU Rangers held MSU to just 26 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-26).
The Rangers were 41 percent from the fields, including an impressive 61 percent (11-of-18) from beyond the arc.
Andres and Moorer combined nine of Northwesterns 11 long balls.
A.J. Jones played a team-high 39 minutes with eight assists while adding seven points.
After the Rangers raced out to an early 6-0 lead thanks to back-to-back threes from Andres, Metro State tightened up on defense leading to the Roadrunners leading by as many as seven points in the first half.
But a 16-7 Northwestern run to close the frame gave the Rangers a two-point lead at the intermission and ultimately the final victory.
Just a little under 24 hours after the Northwestern Rangers caught their first win of the season, nationally ranked Regis University beat the Rangers 77-60.
Despite trailing by as many as eight points in the first half, Northwestern rallied for a 10-1 run to take a 29-28 lead into halftime.
“I thought we played a good 20 minutes and hung around against a top-25 team” said head coach Shawn Dirden “With it being the second game in two days, I think we ran out of gas a little bit in the final few minutes.”
Northwestern had four players reach double digits as Bryshon Bryant led the Rangers with 11 points of the bench, complimented by 10 each from Jack Peck, David Thornton and Treyvon Andres.
Peck was 4-for-6 from the field and showed promising hustle in his 25 minutes on the floor.
“We’re still figuring out how we want to play,” Dirden said. “We’ve got guys that are electric, and it was great to see Jack get some quality opportunities. We got better this weekend and that was the goal.”
A season-high 25 turnovers proved costly for Northwestern as Regis capitalized for 24 points off 11 takeaways.
The Rangers ran into foul trouble with both Bryce Cashman and David Thornton exceeding the limit.
Regis closed the game on a 20-8 run, handing Northwestern the 17-point loss.
The Ranger men next kickoff conference play on their home court as they go up against SNU.