By CONNOR GRAY, Assistant Editor
The Northwestern men’s basketball team got a victory over East Central after a week of rest because of snow and ice.
The Rangers were supposed to have two games last week. However, bad weather forced the game against Southwestern to be postponed.
Despite weather conditions, the team still practiced and focused on the game against East Central.
Though they were unable to play Thursday, changing gears was not difficult for the Rangers.
“Our biggest focus was winning that practice,” head coach Vinay Patel said. “So, we could mentally prepare for our next opponent.”
Going into Saturday’s matchup, Northwestern won the first game of the series, 73-71, in Ada back on Dec. 4, but this Northwestern team has shown how good it is since then.
The first half of the game was mainly a back-and-forth affair, as each team traded blows until around the midway point of the first half. From that point on, Northwestern dominated the rest of the game.
Malik Parsons had another big game, with 20 points and shooting 4-5 three pointers. Bubba Furlong scored 14, with most of his points coming from dunks.
The team also dominated defensively, forcing turnovers and refusing to let East Central get a bucket in the paint and forcing the Tigers to shoot shots they did not want to take.
“That’s where we start everything,” Patel said. “We want to be the best defense in the league.As a coach, I pride myself on that end of the floor, and our guys have bought into that.”
Parsons also said the team loves to pressure opponents, force turnovers and keep opponents on their heels
The Rangers have moved their attention to Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State for Thursday and Saturday matchups.
When asked about what they will be preparing for upcoming games, Parsons had this to say:
“Just continue to do what we do to get stops and run in transition and keep playing together.”
