Alva, Okla. - Rangers coming off their Tuesday night win carried the momentum into Thursday. Northwestern defeated Arkansas Tech 84-75 in Percefull Fieldhouse. A 9-0 run in the second half of the game allowed The Rangers to build their lead into double digits early in the second half and would not look back as they carried that to a nine point win.
The Rangers rise to a 18-7 overall record with a 13-6 conference record. The Wonder Boys fall to a 9-15 overall and 6-12 conference record.
The Rangers had five players in double digits for scoring including Parsons, Bubba Furlong, Larry White, Brian Free, and Ravel Moody. Malik Parsons led the team with 21 points. Bubba Furlong led with 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. Larry White contributed 4 steals. Both Brian Free and Ravel Moody had 4 assists each.
1st Half - Neither team scored for the first two minutes of the game as both teams showed great defense forcing turnovers and contested shots. The Wonder Boys broke the silence with a dunk taking the first lead at 2-0. Anthony Jones answered back with a three pointer for The Rangers. Arkansas Tech responded with a layup to put them in the lead 5-3 going into the first media timeout. Out of the break, The Wonder Boys added a free throw to extend their lead. Larry White answered back with a layup. Malik Parsons contributed a three point play for Northwestern.
Arkansas Tech responded with a jumper. White answered back by sinking a three pointer to extend The Ranger lead to 10-7 into the second media timeout.
Off the bench, Eric Hancik contributed a buzzer beater layup. The Wonder Boys fired back with a three point shot. Ravel Moody sank a free throw and a three pointer to further The Ranger lead with ten minutes left in the first half. Arkansas Tech responded with a corner three pointer to close the gap on Northwestern. Moody finished off a dribble drive layup to keep The Rangers ahead. The Golden Suns fired back with two free throws trailing cutting their deficit to three at 18-15 into the third media timeout.
Out of the commercial break, Jalen Smith extended The Ranger lead with two free throws as he was a consistent shooter at the line Thursday night. Arkansas Tech responded with a jumper, followed by a three pointer to tie the game at 20-20. Parsons knocked down his free throw and layup for Northwestern to put them back in the lead. The teams battled back and forth trading point for point much of the first half. A deep three pointer by Brian Free followed by steal and layup by White allowed The Rangers to regain the lead 31-25 going into the final media timeout of the half.
Back to back three pointers from The Wonder Boys out of the break tied the game at 31-31. Parsons responded with two free throws for Northwestern. Off the bench, Smith added an additional two free throws to extend The Ranger lead with one minute remaining. Arkansas Tech would fire off another three pointer. White answered back with a corner jumper. A buzzer beater three by Free would extend Northwestern's lead 40-34 going into halftime. Moody led the team with 9 points closely followed by Parsons and White with 8 each. White also led the team in steals with 3. Bubba Furlong led the team in rebounds with 4.
2nd Half - The Golden Suns were the first to score out of halftime with a layup. Free responded with back to back three pointers extending The Ranger lead to 10 points in the early parts. Jones contributed another three pointer for an early 9-0 Northwestern run to open the half falling a Tech basket. Arkansas Tech ended the run at the foul line. Furlong finished off a layup to further The Rangers lead 51-37 going into the first media timeout.
Out of the media break, The Wonder Boys fired off a three pointer. White responded with a jumper. Parsons contributed two free throws. Arkansas Tech answered with two back to back layups. Off the bench, Moody sank two free throws to keep The Ranger lead 57-46 going into the second commercial timeout. Furlong added an additional layup out of the media timeout for Northwestern.
Arkansas Tech responded with a layup. Furlong fired back with a jumper. White contributed a fast break layup to extend The Ranger lead. The Wonder Boys answered back with a layup. Both teams went basket for basket as The Rangers continued to lead 67-52 going into the last six minutes of play.
Arkansas Tech came out of the media timeout and sank two free throws and a jumper. Furlong fired back with a three point play for Northwestern. The Wonder Boys answered with two more free throws. Parsons responded as he kept the Ranger lead in double figures at 71-58 going into the last media timeout.
Out of the final commercial break, Parsons sank two free throws to extend The Ranger lead. The Wonder Boys fired off a three pointer and two free throws in response. Furlong responded with a layup. Arkansas Tech fired off another three pointer to close the gap on Northwestern. Furlong responded with a dunk almost putting the final touches on the game. The Wonder Boys answered back with another three pointer. Off the bench, Smith contributed two foul shots keeping Tech away. Arkansas Tech responded with another three pointer one of multiple down the stretch. Parsons sank four foul shots to help seal the win for The Rangers to a Thursday night victory over The Wonder Boys 84-75.
Northwestern returns to action at home as they face off against the Bisons of Harding University. Tip off is set for at 3:00 PM in Percefull Fieldhouse. This will be Northwestern's senior day as pregame activities will take place before the game.
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