By CONNOR GRAY, Assistant Editor
With the regular season over, the Northwestern men’s basketball team finished the year with a 20-8 record and third place in the conference.
Northwestern had its last two games against Southern Nazarene at home and Southeastern on the road.
The Rangers first played Southern Nazarene on Thursday in a close ball game.
Last time they met was Dec. 11, which the Rangers won, 88-63.
“Southern Naz was a game we looked forward to,” assistant coach Jordan Franz said. “They were short a few guys last time and had everybody this time.”
The first half was back-and-forth, with the teams trading baskets until the final two minutes. Then the Rangers took over to finish the half up 35-28.
The second half went more towards the Crimson Storm, as they managed to take the lead halfway through, resulting in the Rangers playing catch-up for most of the half into the final few minutes of the game.
“They hate to lose,” Franz said. “Even when we’re down, they find a way to win.”
They did just that. The Rangers won in close one, 63-60.
Bubba Furlong and Brian Free had 17 and 16 points, respectively. The Rangers then turned their sight to Southeastern, as the Savage Storm needed a win to be the regular season conference champions.
The last time they played, the game was in Alva, where the Savage Storm won, 72-58.
Southeastern had control of the first half, but the Rangers closed the gap to nine, making it 41-32 at the half.
The deficit ballooned in the second half, as the Savage Storm proceeded to go off, scoring 50 points to the Rangers’ 28.
“They are a very senior led team, with some guys who have been there for seven, six and five years,” Franz said.
Franz also said Southeastern players were hungrier for that game than the Rangers were, as the maturity of the Savage Storm played a big part of it.
Furlong led the Rangers in scoring with 20.
This is the Rangers’ best record since the 2017-2018 season, in which the team went 22-7 and made it to the GAC semifinals against Arkansas Monticello.
The Rangers will play Southern Arkansas, which they split the season series with, on Friday at 2:15 p.m. at FireLake Arena in Shawnee.
