NWOSU vs SWOSU
76
Winner Southwestern Okla. SWO 12-11,8-9 GAC
74
Northwestern Okla. NW 8-15,5-12 GAC
Winner
Southwestern Okla. SWO
12-11,8-9 GAC
76
Final
74
Northwestern Okla. NW
8-15,5-12 GAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Southwestern Okla. SWO 29 35 12 76
Northwestern Okla. NW 27 37 10 74

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Madison Parrott, Athletic Communications

Northwestern Falls to Rival Southwestern in Overtime

ALVA, Okla.– Northwestern Oklahoma State University Rangers took a tough loss Thursday evening against in-state rival Southwestern Oklahoma State University. A continuously close game led to overtime in memorable fashion with the Bulldogs sending a three into the basket at the buzzer to take the win 76-74. This loss gave the Rangers an overall record of 8-15, with a 5-12 record in the Great American Conference.
 
The Red-and-Black offense was led by Jaedon Whitfield who had 17 points, 2-5 from the field and 13-15 from the free-throw line. Other stand-out players included Clive Allen who had 13 points. Parrish Hewitt and David Thornton had 13 and 10 points respectively with Thornton leading the team with five rebounds. A.J. Jones led the team with seven assists.
 
The Bulldogs were the first to get on the scoreboard and continued that momentum through the beginning of the first half to pull away to an 11-point lead with 15:44 on the clock. Many believed that Southwestern was going to continue to hold the lead until a seven-point run from the Rangers put them back in the game with an exclamation point dunk from Bryshon Bryant. A three from Hewitt and free throws from Jones allowed the Rangers to come within two as the first half ended.
 
Southwestern came back from the half with the same game plan and reached their largest lead, 12 points, of the game around the 16-minute mark. It seemed as if no matter what shot the Rangers would the Bulldogs always had an answer and kept a 10-point lead until the 13-minute mark. This was when Ranger Nation came alive behind Thornton who had six straight points to change the momentum in the Red-and-Black's favor.
 
With fouls and emotions high, Northwestern was able to scratch their way back and took their first lead of the half with 4:40 left in the game. The game became tied 60-60 with only 45 seconds to go, and free-throws became the key to the Rangers' success. With only two seconds left on the clock, Allen made two clutch free throws to tie the game 64-64 and send it into overtime.
 
The Bulldogs again scored first but this time the Rangers would not budge as each team had reached their double-bonus foul totals. Making those free throws became key for both teams as the Rangers earned a three-point lead with only a minute left in overtime. With the score sitting at 74-73 with a Red-and-Black advantage and only five seconds remaining, a final drive and pass led to a three-point buzzer-beater from Southwestern that allowed them to take the win with a final score of 76-74.
 
The Red-and-Black defense showed up creating an astounding 27 turnovers from the Southwestern offense. They earned 29 points off of said turnovers and had 11 steals to the Bulldog's eight. Almost all of the Ranger's points came from inside the arc with only four threes made throughout the entire game but Northwestern's bench outscored the Southwestern bench 22 to seven. The thing that SWOSU did well at was rebounding with 36 to NWOSU's 24. This led to second-chance points in which the Bulldogs led nine to five.
 
The Rangers will turn around and head to Durant, Okla. to face a top-ranked Great American Conference opponent in Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Tip-off is at 3:00 p.m. following the Lady Rangers game Saturday afternoon.

For the latest news and updates on NWOSU Men's Basketball, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com.
 
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