By Jordan Green, Editor-in-Chief
The Northwestern men’s basketball team had a rough weekend in the hills of Arkansas, losing two road games.
The Rangers first dropped the ball on the road Friday to the Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils, 80-76.
Malik Parsons scored 41 points in the game, continuing his streak of being the Rangers’ top scorer. Parsons’ performance in the game tied a Northwestern record for scoring the most points in a single game.
To begin the game, both teams traded baskets, with the Rangers two points behind the Weevils by the time of the first media timeout.
Deatrick Pashell made two foul shots, and the Boll Weevils made a quick run. The Weevils had a 13-9 lead before those two free throws, and then Ranger Eric Hancik made a three to bring Northwestern within a possession.
By the second timeout, the score was 17-14 in favor of the Weevils, but the Rangers soon got an 18-17 lead thanks to Parsons.
The Weevils answered with two straight three pointers, retaking the lead at 25-23. The two teams went back and forth as Parsons was able to bring the Rangers within three after a jump shot in the paint brought the score to 36-33 at halftime.
To kick off the second half, the Muleriders had a lead of five, and Parsons’ seven scores put Northwestern one away, officials said. The Weevils went on a scoring streak, gaining an edge of 54-44. The lead grew to 58-47, and the Rangers tried to narrow the gap.
White finished a layup as the Rangers continued to slowly chip into the deficit, having it now down to four at 68-64.
Josh Denton continued to answer Ranger runs, this time finishing a three pointer to take a 71-64 lead.
The teams continued to trade baskets, as the lead was now down to 75-71 for Monticello. Milton cut it to three with 1:01 left to play with a three pointer.
In the last 27 seconds of the game, Milton did a layup, and the Rangers came close to forcing a steal – but not close enough, as the Weevils gained the four-point victory when the buzzer sounded.
The Rangers’ first game was followed up with a loss to the Southern Arkansas Muleriders, 74-63, on Saturday.
Parsons once again led in scoring, this time with 24 points. Kicking off the first half, each team scored three-pointers. The Muleriders quickly took an 11-5 lead after a run, though White closed it to a four-point gap thanks to a jump shot. Milton and Parsons made foul shots that further closed the gap, athletics officials said.
Southern Arkansas got a seven-point lead after a jump shot, but Parsons made two foul shots to end the Muleriders’ run. The Muleriders made another three, bringing the score to 32-24.
The score was 44-30 in favor of Southern Arkansas at halftime. In the second half, the Rangers made a 6-0 run, bolstering the Rangers’ defense efforts. The Muleriders made a 7-0 run, gaining a 15-point lead, though the Rangers eventually narrowed it to eight.
The next run for Northwestern came thanks to Milton, and the deficit narrowed to six.
The Rangers tried one final surge, but the Muleriders kept responding to bring the score to 70-61.
Southern Arkansas closed the game out with a 74-63 victory over the Rangers.
The Rangers’ next games will be Thursday against Ouachita Baptist, Saturday against Henderson State and Monday against Southwestern.
All are at home and begin at 7:30 p.m. inside Percefull Fieldhouse.