ALVA, Okla. – Saturday evening's non-conference action saw Northwestern Oklahoma State Men's Basketball take down Newman University by a final of 72-64 for their third win of the season.
Greg Minor Jr. got the Rangers off to a hot start, sinking the team's first six points behind two dominant drives through traffic for back to back hoop and harm conversions. The 6'2" product out of Louisville, Ky. had 16 points on the evening.
The Jets (1-7, 0-0 Heartland) entered tonight's game looking to break a three game winless streak, coming off a 103-74 loss at Washburn last weekend. The Rangers were looking to snap a mini two game slide of their own and came out firing, building an early 13 point lead that looked promising. Newman however, wasn't ready to count themselves out in the opening frame, going on a run that would cut the Ranger lead to just two to close out the first half.
Despite displaying their deadly precision in the opening eight minutes, Northwestern shot just 34.5% in the first half while going 2 for 11 from beyond the arc. The Rangers would take a 33-31 lead into halftime.
Newman continued their momentum through the break, as Jets guard Daniel Nwosu tied the ballgame up with a layup. That would be as close as Newman would get for the time being, as Northwestern went on a 8-2 run to regain control. Looking to bounce back after last week's heartbreaker against Great American Conference foe Arkansas-Monticello, the Rangers came out of the intermission with fire.
Trey Johnson had the Percefull Fieldhouse crowd roaring after fighting his way to back to back buckets in the paint. Johnson had 8 of his 10 points in the second half. Minor Jr. continued to energize those in attendance with a beauty steal followed by an impressive one handed dunk.
Trailing by seven with 6:30 to play, Jet Daniel Nwosu kept finding himself at the line. An 81.8% free throw shooter this season, Nwosu made the best of his freebies going 9-10. With his game high 19 points, Nwosu managed to tie the ballgame up at 56-56 with just over four minutes to go.
Minor Jr. hit both of his free throws coming out of a media timeout to put the Rangers back on top. Although sinking a season low six points on the night, senior
Adrian Motley hit a few important free throws late in the ballgame when Newman appeared to be poised for a comeback bid.
Northwestern would eventually hold onto this one for the 72-64 victory.
Up Next
The Rangers will return to action next Saturday, December 17 as they travel to Moore, Okla. to take on Randall University (formerly Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College) in a 3:00 p.m. matchup.
