by Madison Parrot, Athletic Communications
Northwestern Oklahoma State University Rangers took a hard loss to in-conference opponent University of Arkansas at Monticell. The Rangers and the Weevils battled throughout the entire game with seven lead changes in the first half alone. The highest lead, nine, was earned by Arkansas-Monticello in the second half but the Weevils still only won with a close score of 70-68. The Black-and-Red offense was led by Jaedon Whitfield who had 15 points, 5-6 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line.
Other stand-out players included Clive Allen who had 12 points and four assists. Jack Peck and Parrish Hewitt had nine and eight points respectively. Hewitt led the team with five assists.
The Rangers and the Weevils began the first half almost the same way they ended it. It was a back-and-forth battle between both teams with nine tied scores and 11 different lead changes throughout the entire match-up. The Red-and-Black gained their first true lead at the ten-minute mark after a lay-up from David Thornton to give them a two-point lead. NWOSU could not, however, put more than five points between them and their opponent. The Weevils took the advantage with two-minutes left and held on with a score of 35-31 in the first half.
Northwestern outscored Arkansas-Monticello 37-35 in the second half even as they trailed the Weevils nine points at one point in the game. That lead was taken with 11 minutes left in the game but was all the further they could pull away. Back-to-back lay-ups from Whitfield started the comeback and gave NWOSU enough momentum to pull within one. A corner shot from beyond the arc from Hewitt gave Northwestern a one-point lead with around a minute left to play. Unfortunately, untimely turnovers nailed the coffin shut as the Weevils snatched the game with a final score of 70-68.