win over thunder
76
Manhattan Chrst. Manhat 0-1
96
Winner Northwestern Okla. NW 3-1,0-0 GAC
Manhattan Chrst. Manhat
0-1
76
Final
96
Northwestern Okla. NW
3-1,0-0 GAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Manhattan Chrst. Manhat 42 34 76
Northwestern Okla. NW 47 49 96

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Rangers Second Half Run Leads to Third Straight Win Saturday Afternoon

Alva, Okla - Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers hosted the Thunder of Manhattan Christian on Saturday afternoon. The season has taken off; the Rangers are on a three-game winning streak as they pulled off a 96-76 win over the Thunder. The Rangers took over the game from a late second-half run to close the game strong.

Northwestern was led by Larry White in points with 18 on the evening followed by Malik Parsons with 15 and Bubba Furlong with 14. Matej Drgon led in rebounds with eight followed by Ravel Moody with six.Moody, Furlong and Brian Free led the Ranges with four assists on the day.

"I really liked seeing how our team responded in the 2nd half today. Give Manhattan Christian a lot of credit; they came out and really took it to us in the first half. We pressured on the perimeter a little more in the second half to try and limit some of their perimeter shots. Our team is a work in progress, and it's always good to learn after a win. We need to make every defensive possession important and continue to get better on that end of the floor," stated head coach Vinay Patel following the victory.

The game started with both teams battling back and forth, looking to find their rhythm. The Rangers opened the game on a 15-6 run to push their opening minutes lead to nine points. White opened the game with six of the first 15 points on that Rangers run. Northwestern shot seven of eight from the floor to start. The two teams traded baskets as the Rangers held an eight-point lead halfway through the opening half on a dunk by Jason Douglas-Stanley following his first steal of the game. Northwestern had a nine-point lead as the Thunder made a strong push to close out the opening half as they cut their deficit as low as two before Hancik would hit a three before the buzzer sounded on an assist from Free. This put the Rangers up by five at 47-42, going into halftime.

Manhattan Christian stayed in the game following a perfect half from behind the arc as they were 7-7 from the field. The Rangers held a slight advantage on the boards, but the Rangers' defense would force ten first-half turnovers.

After eight first-half lead changes, the Thunder tied the game after opening the second half on a 5-0 run to start following a Thunder three to tie the score. The two teams went two minutes without a basket as the defensive intensity helped open one's offense. Manhattan Christian regained the lead with 15 minutes left following a Thunder guard Jordan White fast break layup. As the Rangers trailed by one 54-53, Furlong sparked a Northwestern 7-0 run to gain the lead back and some control of this game as scored five of the seven points on the run to put the Rangers up 60-54 with 13 minutes to play. A Jones layup put the Rangers up 65-59 at the halfway point of the game's final half. Douglas-Stanley put the Rangers back in front by eight at 69-61 on a fastbreak with the assist to Smith.


"I was really pleased with our point guard play tonight. We had six assists to 1 turnover in that department, and both of our guys have worked extremely hard to improve in that area. Shots are going to fall for us as long as we continue to take the right ones. We did a nice job of not settling and getting to the paint," mentioned Patel on the win.

Northwestern used an 11-4 run led by White, scoring six of those 11 points. A White rebound leading to a fastbreak dunk after he beat the Thunder down the floor forced a Manhattan timeout with six minutes to go as the Rangers pushed their lead to 80-67. Northwestern completed a 12-0 run overall, building an 86-67 lead in the game with 3:35 to play in the game. Krys Johnson made a put-back layup following a Thomas Prado steal to give the Rangers a 96-76 victory Saturday night.

 Northwestern will be back in action for a third straight home game Tuesday night as the Rangers play host to Randall University, looking for their fourth straight win.
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