ALVA, Okla. – Bryson Bryant just missed his Northwestern Oklahoma State University career high Saturday afternoon as the Rangers fell to East Central inside Percefull Fieldhouse, 87-58.

East Central came out from the opening tip of opened up a 14-point lead in the early part of the first half. Bryant got the Rangers on the board with a touch shot in the paint the to start the scoring for Northwestern.

The Tigers had an answer for anything the Rangers threw at them, only letting Northwestern score on multiple possession once in the first half when Jack Peck scored four straight and David Thornton added a free-throw with 4:52 to go in the first.

Peck led Northwestern with 14 points and had a team high eight rebounds. Peck has led the Rangers in the points column in five of the last six contest, averaging 15.7 points a game during that span. It is also the third time this season the redshirt sophomore has been within two rebounds of a double-double, reaching the feat for the first time on Thursday night.

Peck and Bryant were the only two Rangers with double-figure scoring in the loss. Keion Bateast had a career high nine points, Andrew Clopton finished with eight points, David Thornton added six and Eric Andres Jr. came in with five.

Despite the struggles in the first half, and early in the second half, the Rangers played with the Tigers in the final 16 minutes of the game as the visiting team only outscored Northwestern 35-30 in the remaining time of the game.

The bench play was a bright spot for the Rangers as they scored more than half of the points put on the board by Northwestern.

Northwestern moved to 5-17 overall and 3-13 in Great American conference action after Saturday's game. The Rangers will return to the floor next Thursday evening when they travel to Weatherford to face rival Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Rangers got the best of the Bulldogs at home on Jan. 17, 77-61.

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