EDMOND, OKLAHOMA- The Northwestern Oklahoma State Men's basketball team opened their season Friday night following the conclusion of the Lady Rangers season opener. The Bronchos would use a solid start to the second half to gain the lead and some control in the game before winning 78-68 over the Rangers Friday night.
Jason Douglas-Stanley led northwestern with 12 points, followed by Ravel Moody and Anthony Jones with 11 points each. Bubba Furlong led the team with five rebounds, followed by four players tied with three each. Malik Parsons led the team with five assists, followed by Douglas-Stanley with four. Furlong led the team with three blocks.
"I'm very proud of our basketball team for their effort tonight. We had one bad stretch in the second half, and UCO really capitalized
on our mistakes. We have to do a better job of executing in critical moments, and not go off script. As we continue to trust each
other our play will improve" stated head coach Vinay Patel.
The Red-and-Black got the scoring started with a three-pointer from Furlong to gain the first lead of the game. A Furlong layup kept the Rangers in front, giving Northwestern would hold a 10-6 lead going into the first media timeout of the season. Another Douglas-Stanley three would push the Rangers lead to nine points at 21-12. The Bronchos would force back-to-back turnovers creating two steals on the Rangers to cut the Northwestern lead back down to four at 21-17. A Central Oklahoma fastbreak dunk off a steal cut the Rangers lead down to one at 26-25. Northwestern would continue to hold the one-point lead as the defensive intensity began to rise as; with a 31-30 lead, the game would go into over a 2-minute scoring drought before Central Oklahoma foul shots would give them their first lead at 32-31.
The deficit was short-lived as Brian Free would hit a layup to go back up 33-32. Central Oklahoma would tie the game at 33-33 with three minutes left in the opening half. Northwestern would create two steals in the half's closing minutes as the Rangers went into the break holding a 37-36 lead following a Jones layup on the break following a defensive rebound.
Central Oklahoma would jump out with the first two baskets of the second-half following a layup to take a 40-37 lead. The opening minutes of the second half featured a slow start offensively, with three baskets total in the opening three minutes off the second half. Northwestern would continue to battle as a Jones three-pointer would push the Rangers back out in front with a 46-45 lead with 14 minutes left in the game. The Bronchos, though, would answer back with a 13-2 run to push the home team out in front by 10 with a 58-48 lead halfway through the second half.
The second scoring frenzy had the half would occur with a Central Oklahoma layup ending a three-minute offensive steadfast. Central Oklahoma was holding an 11 point lead with nine minutes to play. The Bronchos would continue to hold their lead as the Rangers, and Central Oklahoma would trade points for two minutes as the Rangers would cut it to 10 with five minutes left. Northwestern would try one last run getting as close as six with four minutes left to play, trailing 65-59 following a dunk by Furlong, and six again following a Parsons three-pointer to cut the game to 72-66 with one minute to play. Givens of Central Oklahoma would put the final touches on the game with two free throws to hold the Rangers off with a 78-68 Bronchos' victory Friday night.
"I'm anxious to see how we respond tomorrow. Northeastern has a tremendous basketball team and Coach Havens does a
phenomenal job with his program. We will have to quickly eliminate some of our mistakes from tonight and get ourselves ready for
another hard game tomorrow" coach Patel on the Friday game
Northwestern will be back in action Saturday afternoon at 3:00 PM to conclude the opening challenge in Edmond, a part of the MIAA/ GAC challenge. The Rangers 3:00 PM tip-off will be following the Lady Rangers game at 1:00 PM.
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