By CADE KENNEDY, Sports Editor
The Northwestern men’s basketball team continued its winning streak with games against Manhattan Christian and Randall.
The Rangers are off to a hot start, as they have won four of their first five games. During this stretch, the Rangers have been learning to play as a team.
“We’ve got 14 out of 17 players that are new, so our biggest thing has been building team chemistry and learning how to play together,” said Vinay Patel, the head coach of the Rangers.
The Rangers played the Thunder of Manhattan Christian on Nov. 20, and the Rangers got a 96-76 victory.
The game was closer than the score would indicate, as the Rangers clung to a 47-42 lead at halftime. The Thunder were able to claw back and take the lead early in the second half, but the Rangers went on a 15-2 run over a period of six minutes in the second half to put the Thunder away.
Larry White led the Rangers in scoring with 18 points, while Malik Parsons had 15 points and Bubba Furlong had 14 points. Matej Drgon led the Rangers with eight rebounds.
The next game that the Rangers played was against Randall, and the Rangers blew out the Saints, 113-43.
The Rangers had a 60-17 lead at the half and continued to score in the second half. The Ranger defense suffocated the Saints, as the Saints only shot 18.5% from the 3-point line.
Furlong led the Rangers in scoring with 16 points, while Ravel Moody and White had 15 points. Drgon led the Rangers in rebounds with 12. Furlong had nine rebounds, and Eric Hancik had eight rebounds. Brian Free and Anthony Jones both led the Rangers in assists, with five.
The Rangers will play Thursday against the Oklahoma Baptist Bison at 7:30 p.m. at Percefull Fieldhouse. This will also mark the beginning of conference play for the Rangers.
The Rangers have maintained a 5-7 record against the Bison since 2016, with the previous meeting ending in a 76-70 Bison victory over the Rangers. The Bison have won the previous five meetings with the Rangers, with the last Northwestern win coming on Dec. 1, 2018.
