Alva, Okla- Northwestern Oklahoma State Men's Basketball team will continue their four-game homestand with the conference opener Thursday evening at 7:30 PM as the Rangers welcome the Bison of Oklahoma Baptist into Percefull Fieldhouse.
Northwestern is led by third-year head coach Vinay Patel who has a career record of 17-31 with the Ranger program.
The Rangers will look to continue their win streak as the Men's team has won four consecutive games with wins over Kansas Christian, Manhattan Christian, Randall, and Northeastern State.
Northwestern will look to continue the high-powered offense, ranking second in the Great American Conference in scoring and 42nd Nationally ranked. The Rangers are averaging 85.8 points per game through the opening five games of the season and 93.5 points over the four-game winning streak.
Jason Douglas-Stanley has led the Rangers through the first five games of the season, averaging 12.2 points per game as one of four double-figure scores to start the season. Larry White is second on the team with 11.8 points, followed by Bubba Furlong and Anthony Jones with 11.4 each. As a team, the Rangers have shot 34.8 percent from behind the arc, led by Malik Parson with 66.7 percent, followed by Ravel Moody at 45.0 percent to lead the Rangers. The Rangers are sixth in the conference in three-pointers made this season.
Northwestern has succeeded in sharing the ball in the early going of the season with 72 total team assists averaging 18 per game, suitable for 27th in the nation in that category. Furlong has led the team during the young season with 13 on the year, followed by Brian Free.
The Red-and-Black defense can not go unnoticed as the Rangers rank first in total blocks on the season and block shots per game in the conference and 10th in the nation with 5.5 per contest. Bubba Furlong has 12 blocks to lead the Rangers through the opening five games of the season. Larry White leads the team in steals with eight on the season through just five games.
Northwestern is led in rebounding from Bubba Furlong with 42 total on the season for an average of 8.4, with Mato Drgon leading the team with 23 defensive rebounds.
Scouting the Bison:
Oklahoma Baptist will enter the Thursday night game with a 3-3 overall record through the season's first six games. The Bison will be coming off a Thanksgiving classic tournament where they lost two straight one to #6 West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico.
The Bison are led by Jason Eaker, who enters his fourth season with the program after finishing the first three with a career record of 54-29 overall record with the Bison.
The Bison are led by Burke Putnam, who averages 23.3 points per game as one of four double-figure scorers, followed by Brantly Thompson with 15.8, Jaquan Simms with 12.8, and Harrison Stoddart with 10 per game. Putnam has led the charge in shooting behind the arc for the Bison shooting 42.1 percent, along with Simms at 42.1 as well.
Defensively Putnam has led the Bison with ten steals on the year to go with 32 defensive rebounds, which is a team lead. Nigel Wilcox and Justin Tene both have five blocks. Wilcox leads the team with 7.7 rebounds per game. Thompson leads the team with 22 assists on the year, followed by Putnam with 20.
Overall in the series history, the Rangers and Bison have played 13 times since joining Division II. The Rangers will look to end a five-game losing streak Thursday evening against the Bison. Northwestern trails the series 5-7 overall since joining Division II.
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