RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Sophomore Jack Peck netted a career high 27 points Thursday night as Northwestern Oklahoma State University men's basketball feel in a close contest on the road at Arkansas Tech, 79-78.
It was the second time this season Arkansas Tech has stolen a game away from Northwestern in the final seconds. Back on January 26 in Percefull Fieldhouse, Will Adler hit a three from the corner to lift the Wonder Boys over the Rangers, 74-72.
In Thursday night's contest, it was a R.J. Glasper with a jumper in the paint with time winding down to stop the Rangers.
The game was a back-and-forth affair in the first five minutes until Andrew Clopton hit a floater with 13:52 to give the Rangers an 11-9 lead. A.J. Jones followed with a jumper and Peck drilled a three to make it a seven-point difference at 11:33.
Arkansas Tech clawed back to within three, but Cole Jones answered with back-to-back three pointers to give the Rangers a nine-point lead. Yet again, the Wonder Boys cut the lead back to a point in the final minute before Clopton splashed a shot from outside the arc to make it 37-33 heading to halftime.
Coming out of the break, Clopton sparked a 10-2 run by the Rangers with a three-pointer. Peck also added one of his three three-pointers in the game during the run that gave the Rangers a 47-35 lead with 16:34 to play.
However, the Wonder Boys hit four straight three-pointers on their end of the floor to go on a 12-2 run to make it 51-49 Northwestern at the 12:44 mark of the second half.
The opponents traded punches over the next several minutes. With the Rangers looking up at the Wonder Boys with 3:39 to go, Peck drove to the basket and hit a short jumper and drew a foul on the play. He converted the free-throw to tie the game at 71. After A.J. Jones followed on the next possession with a layup, the Rangers got the ball again and Peck added another old fashion three-point play to make it 76-71 with two minutes remaining.
But the Wonder Boys closed the game with a 6-0 spurt in the final 1:30, ultimately getting the final basket from Glasper to win the game.
With the exception of the great scoring performance by Peck, it was a balanced box score for the Rangers as they build confidence heading into the final game of the season on Saturday. Bryshon Bryant finished the game with 13 points, followed by A.J. Jones and Eric Andres Jr. with nine a piece.
Clopton closed the book with eight points, while David Thorton and Cole Jones rounded out the scoring with six points each.
The Rangers had a good day shooting from the floor as they finished hitting 53.6-percent of their shots, as well as going nine-for-11 from the free-throw line. It was their second best shooting performance of the season behind the first matchup between the two teams.
The loss was the 10th time this season the Rangers played in a game that was decided in the final minute of regular or in overtime.
Northwestern will wrap the 2018-19 campaign Saturday afternoon when they face a Harding team in Searcy, Arkansas, that has lost 18 straight games after starting the conference portion of their schedule 3-0.
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