MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Northwestern Oklahoma State University men's basketball escaped Magnolia with a two-point victory over the Southern Arkansas Muleriders. Treyvon Andres scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds, while Greg Minor Jr. had 12 points as the Rangers shot 52 percent from the field to move to 16-6 (12-5 GAC) on the season.

Southern Arkansas had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but a CJ Elkins jumper from the right side was swatted into the Muleriders bench by Andres as the 6'7" center picked up his third block of the ballgame.

Northwestern led a back-and-forth opening frame by one with 12:09 to play, but a 15-5 run over the next eight minutes allowed Southern Arkansas to grab an 11-point advantage. The Rangers closed out the half on a 6-0 run of their own and found themselves trailing by just seven at the break.

Brandon Green continued to solidify his status as one of the Great American Conference's best defenders, adding three steals to bring his season total to 36 (5^th in the GAC). A'keem Oglesby added three of his own in his eight-point effort. Northwestern held the deep ball shooting Muleriders to 31 percent from three-point territory, including 1-for-8 in the second half.

Despite trailing by 11 points with 2:44 to play in the opening half, a dominant 27-5 run extending from the final minute of the first half through the opening of the second saw the Rangers hit 11-of-12 shots from the field and grab four steals from the Muleriders take control of the momentum.

Northwestern went on to take an 11-point lead of their own, but the gritty SAU offense clawed their way back to cut the Rangers advantage to just three with five minutes remaining. Minor Jr.'s three-pointer with 3:28 to play put the black-and-red back up by nine, but the Muleriders would score seven straight in the last two minutes, setting up Elkins for the chance to send it to overtime.

But the defensive stand in the final ten seconds of the game by Andres solidified Northwestern's fourth straight win as they head back to Alva with two key road wins in Arkansas.
 
Up Next
The Rangers will travel south to Shawnee, Okla. for a 7:30 matchup against the Bison of Oklahoma Baptist. OBU (9-14, 6-11 GAC) are in the midst of a three-game losing streak following their 97-67 loss at Arkansas Tech on Saturday. That game can be heard live on the Pulse 105.7 FM or at www.alvaradio.com

For the latest news and updates on Ranger Basketball, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com