By OAKLEE FIELDER, Sports Editor
The NWOSU men’s basketball had seven games since fall semester ended, and they won four of the seven. They started the break, away against the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Savage Storm.
NWOSU 84-SEOSU 81
The Savage Storm started the game Dec. 16 with the upper hand with a small two-point lead at the half. The Rangers were only down 33-35, so a comeback was definitely in the cards.
NWOSU fought hard and spent most of the second half trying to climb up and ended up tying the game 72-72 to force overtime. In overtime, the Ranges clutched up and lead most of the way up until the end and beat Southeastern, 84-81.
NWOSU 77- ECU 67
The Rangers went home to face the ECU Tigers Dec. 19. NWOSU dominated the first half but only led by nine points at halftime with it ending 35-24.
The second half was a back and forth and a tight fight to protect the lead for NWOSU. ECU did much better in the second half compared to their first half, scoring 43 points, but their efforts were just not enough. NWOSU scored 42 points in the second and kept the difference between the two scored in the double digits. The Rangers won at home 67-77 over the Tigers.
The NWOSU men’s basketball team went on the road for three straight games.
NWOSU 52-OBU 74
The first was against the Oklahoma Baptist University Bison on Jan. 4. The Bison held the lead after the first half, but only by one point. OBU had 30, NWOSU 29.
The Bison flew away in the second half and scored 44 points to take a decisive lead against the Rangers’ 23 second-half points. The Rangers left Shawnee defeated, 52-74.
NWOSU 70-OCBU 81
The Rangers moved on to face the Ouachita Baptist Tigers in Arkadelphia on Jan. 9. The Rangers did not get going at all in the first half when they were down 13 points. The Tigers scored 40 points in the first half.
The Rangers were able to figure out what they were doing and scored 43 points in the second half. Unfortunately, the comeback was not enough. The Ouachita Tigers beat the Rangers, 81-70.
The Rangers did not have to travel far, as they faced off against the Henderson State Reddies on Jan. 11. Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist are only .6 miles away and in the same city.
NWOSU 70-HSU 96
The Reddies started the game with their foot down on the pedal and outscored the Rangers 49-39. The second half was the same narrative for the Rangers as they were outscored heavily again by the Reddies. Henderson State won the game 70-96.
After a week of away games, the Rangers finally came home to play two more games. Their first game was against the University of Arkansas of Monticello.
NWOSU 73-ARM 68
The Rangers and Boll Weevils had a close first half, only separated by three points at the end of the half. The Rangers had the lead 33-30 at halftime.
The second half was equally as close, with the score difference only two points. The Rangers kept the lead and scored 40 to the Boll Weevils’ 38. NWOSU won the game, 73-68.
NWOSU 70-SAU 51
NWOSU faced off against Southern Arkansas on Jan. 18.
The Rangers started the game in the right mindset and scored 31 points against the Muleriders’ 22. The Rangers only improved throughout the game, scoring 39 points in the second half. The Muleriders also improved but they did not come close to defeating the Rangers. NWOSU took down Southern Arkansas, 70-51.
GAC Players of the Week
Over the break, NWOSU had two GAC Players of the Week:
Cameron McDowell in week 7, and Kabeya Tshibangu in week 7 and week 10.
Cameron McDowell was nominated three times in weeks 6, 9 and 10, and Max Alexander was nominated once in week 10.
The men’s basketball team is now 8-8 and sits in the seventh position in the GAC standings.
The Rangers will face off against SWOSU Thursday, Jan. 23. The game against ECU will be away in Ada on Saturday.