Alva, Okla - Northwestern Oklahoma State completed their fourth straight win following a 113-43 victory on Tuesday evening. Northwestern used a fast start to gain control of the game early on, opening a 22-7 run to start the game. Northwestern never looked back, finishing with a 113-43 victory over the Saints.
The Rangers' fourth straight victory improves the team to 4-1 with their third consecutive win by double digits.
The Rangers pulled off the win behind a widespread of scoring as every Ranger player who entered the game scored at least one point. Northwestern had six different double-figure scorers, led by Bubba Furlong with 16 points, followed by Ravel Moody and Larry White with 15 points each. The Red-and-Black were led in rebounds by Matej Drgon with 12, followed by Furlong with nine and Eric Hancik with eight. Brian Free had five assists along with Anthony Jones.
Northwestern's defense would force 17 turnovers as the team would score 30 points off turnovers. The team would have 71 bench points along with 30 assists on 45 made shots.
Northwestern jumped out of the gate fast after a minute of scoreless basketball between the two teams Hancik would open the game's scoring with the first two points. A Free 3-pointer would follow him to open a 5-1 lead early in the half. Northwestern's defense helped gain the early advantage. The Rangers forced the Saints to 1-7 shooting early on and forced two turnovers to help jump out to the early advantage. Free hit two threes to lead the Rangers on the run.
The Red-and-Black opened a 22-7 lead following another big run, this time a 12-3 Northwestern run. The Rangers would go 3-7 from behind the arc on this run as Free, White, and Moody would hit a three. Northwestern would also hit four foul shots. Northwestern would once again start the run behind their defense, forcing two more turnovers along with 1-3 shooting from the Saints. The Rangers led by 15 halfway through the opening half.
The Rangers continued to push the pace in the first half as the next five minutes; the Rangers would pull off a 16-2 run over the Saints on 7-8 shooting behind four points each from Parson and Jason Douglas-Stanley. Northwestern forced two more turnovers and held Randall to just making one field goal in that time frame as the Rangers' advantage was now 40-11 with five minutes left in the opening half.
Northwestern would not allow the Saints to gain any momentum in the half's closing minutes as the Red-and-Black went on a 20-6 run to close the last five minutes. Douglas-Stanley led with six points, with the Rangers hitting four threes in the closing minutes. Randall had four turnovers in this time frame. Furlong would hit a full-court shot as the buzzer sounded to give the Rangers a 60-17 lead at halftime.
The second half opened the same as the first, as Northwestern would score the first six points of the half, opening a 66-17 lead. In the opening five minutes, Northwestern used a 14-6 run to continue carrying the momentum behind Jalen Smith's five points.
Larry White would lead the way on the next Northwestern run scoring 10 of the 21 points on the 21-9 Ranger run to push the team's lead to 74-23. Northwestern would shoot 9 of 10 on the run forcing four turnovers and three steals, as the lead grew to 94-32 with 10 minutes left in the game.
An Anthony Jones three would push the Rangers over the century mark in points as Northwestern went up 101-39 with seven minutes left in the game. Northwestern's final run would be a 9-2 run with four different scorers in Moody, Krys Johnson, Thomas Prado, and Drgon to give the Rangers 113-43 victory. The 70 point win is the second-highest victory margin in Rangers history.
The Red-and-Black close non-conference play so far at 4-1 as conference play will open on Thursday, December 2nd in Percefull Fieldhouse against GAC for Oklahoma Baptist.
For the latest news and updates on NWOSU Men's Basketball, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com.
