BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State men's basketball team took down Southern Arkansas University in the opening round of the 2018 Great American Conference Postseason Tournament to secure the school's first advancement in any postseason tournament since acceptance into NCAA Division II.

The Rangers played a strong final 10 minutes of the contest to edge out the Muleriders by a final total of 76-71. Junior A'keem Oglesby led the Rangers with 16 points for the afternoon while seniors Brandon Green, Cody Halvorson, and Greg Minor Jr. all posted double-digit scoring totals.

Green totaled 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting throughout the game while posting nine assists and five rebounds as well. The Houston, Texas native scored 12 of his 14 in the second half and consistently guided the offense throughout the evening, especially in the later stages of the second half.

Northwestern led for nearly 35 minutes of the game, but struggled with putting away the Muleriders until the final minutes of the game.  

Halvorson connected on 4-of-9 attempts from three-point range, including three in the first half to get the Rangers started out on track in the early stages of the game. Minor Jr. went 5-of-9 from the field and collected two rebounds along the way.  

Northwestern got started early in the program's first post-season contest in two seasons, establishing an early 13-4 lead that was spurred by three-pointers from Halvorson and Oglesby. The Rangers made just 5-of-11 shots to start the game, but collected three offensive rebounds that all resulted in second-chance points.

The Rangers had a balanced rebounding effort across the board with three different players recording five rebounds. Northwestern shot 51 percent (29-of-57) from the field for the contest and held Southern Arkansas to just 6-of-24 from behind the three-point line.

Six straight points from Minor extended the lead to double-digits at 23-11 as the Rangers continued to keep the Muleriders off balance on the offensive side of the ball. Southern Arkansas hit just six of their first 17 shots and were unable to connect on a three-point basket until the 6:45 mark of the opening half.

The Muleriders used that three-point make to generate an 8-0 run leading up to the 6:10 mark that narrowed the margin down to just four at 23-19. Halvorson and Oglesby connected on their second back-to-back three point conversion stretch of the opening half to quickly extend the lead back out to 10 just two minutes later at 29-19.

A 10-4 run during the final five minutes of the first half in favor of the Muleriders brought the halftime score to 33-32. That cold-stretch from the Rangers saw their once 12-point advantage go down to just one at the halftime break.

A bucket just a few seconds into the second half gave Southern Arkansas their first lead of the contest at 34-33. Both teams continued to battle throughout a high-paced start to the second half of action before four consecutive points from Cedric Collinge gave the Rangers a slight 41-40 advantage with 14:46 remaining in the game.

Northwestern continued to try and build a substantial lead throughout the middle portions of the second half, but couldn't quite pull away from the Muleriders. The Rangers extended their lead to seven thanks to a Green three-pointer that put Northwestern ahead 55-48 with 10:14 remaining in the game.

Southern Arkansas was able to once again keep the game close, getting the advantage back to just two at 55-53, before consecutive lay-ups from Northwestern brought the score to 59-53 with 7:15 remaining in the game. A quick Halvorson three continued to build the Ranger momentum as they finally began to pull away from Southern Arkansas and brought the advantage to nine at 64-55 with 5:07 remaining on the clock.

Green once again came through in the spotlight for the Rangers and completed a steal-and-score to continue to build the advantage to 70-59 with 2:28 remaining. Southern Arkansas answered that run from the Rangers with seven consecutive points to narrow the lead to just four with 1:30 remaining on the clock.

Collinge connected on a crucial tip-in to end the Northwestern scoring draught and make the score 72-66 with under a minute to go in the contest. Minor made the hustle play of the night after missing both free throw attempts with 41 seconds remaining on the clock and secured his own offensive rebound to set-up Oglesby with the opportunity to draw contact and hit both free throws to effectively end the Muleriders chance at getting back into the game with the score at 74-67.

The victory will set the Rangers up with a semi-final match scheduled for a 2:15 p.m. tip-off on Saturday afternoon in which Northwestern will face the winner of Arkansas-Monticello and East Central.