Durant, Okla.- After a heartbreaking loss to Southwestern Thursday night, the Rangers were ready to get back in action with a Saturday afternoon game with Southeastern. The Savage Storm used two separate 9-0 runs in the first half to take control of the game. Northwestern would have a comeback bid which would eventually fall short, as Southeastern would pull away late for the 91-73 win.
The Rangers were led by David Thornton who finished the game with 19 points along with seven rebounds for the only double-digit scorer on the team. Parrish Hewitt finished with nine points along with seven rebounds. The seven rebounds were tied for the most on the team, as Thornton brought down seven rebounds for Northwestern as well, Saturday afternoon. A.J. Jones finished the game with eight of the 15 team assists to go along with six points.
Kevin Buckingham led the Storm with 29 points on the afternoon to lead all scorers to go along with seven rebounds. Adam Dworksy controlled their offense passing out 16 assists.
The Savage Storm jumped out fast getting out to an early 9-0 run with the first four points coming from Buckingham. Northwestern wasted no time responding however going on an 11-2 run making it a 12-11 game, getting five from Nate Bailey to spark the run. As Southeastern kept trying to pull away in this game from Buckingham's offensive game. However, Northwestern's balanced attack in the first half kept answering anything that the Storm would throw at them.
A Jack Peck layup evened the score at 22-22 for the first tie in the game since the opening tip-off. After a Clive Allen basket tied it back at 26 a Hewitt three gave the Rangers their first lead of the game at 29-26. The Storm would even the score at 30 and eventually, take a 38-36 before making their final run of the half. Southeastern would close the first half on a 9-0 run from three different players hitting a shot from beyond the arc.
The Savage Storm would go into halftime leading the Rangers 47-36
Southeastern opened the second half where they finished the first half with a run. They would open the 2nd half with a 7-0 run extending the previous run to 16-0. Southeastern would gain control of their largest lead of the game, which was 21 points, about halfway through the second half at 72-51. The Rangers answered with a 7-0 run, along with a 17-6 overall run to cut the deficit to 10. All 17 points came from Thornton and Eric Andres Jr. during that stretch, with both stepping up playing major minutes off the bench. Andres would finish the game with his season-high seven points.
The 10 point deficit was as close as the Rangers could cut it to as Southeastern kept Northwestern distant not allowing the comeback to happen, using the three-point shot to keep the Rangers away. The Savage Storm would connect on 16 three-pointers out of their 32 made field goals. Southeastern assisted on 21 of those 32 shots. Northwestern was able to knock down 29 shots assisting on 15 of them.
The Rangers loss will drop them to 8-16 on the season, 5-13 in Great American Conference Play. The win improves Southeastern to 19-6 on the year, 13-5 in the conference. The Rangers will now travel to Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, Arkansas for Thursday evenings matchup set for a 7:30 tip-off.
