Shawnee, Okla. - The Rangers traveled to Shawnee to play Southern Arkansas in the quarterfinals of the GAC tournament. The Muleriders of Southern Arkansas topped the Rangers 72-63. Each team battled as the game was even at the break before Southwestern edged out the Rangers in the second half. Southern Arkansas took advantage of the glass as they out rebounded Northwestern 56-25.
Northwestern finished the season with a 20-9 overall record and 15-8 conference record. Southern Arkansas advances to round two of the conference tournament with a 18-11 overall record and a 14-9 conference record.
Chance Love led The Rangers in points with 11 followed by Ravel Moody and Larry White with 10. Eric Hancik led with 6 rebounds. Jalen Smith led in assists with 3.
1st Half - The Rangers made their conference appearance known with a dunk from Larry White to score the first points of the game. Southern Arkansas responded with a dribble-drive layup. White fired back with a layup. Brian Free contributed a jumper for Northwestern, keeping their momentum rolling. The Muleriders responded with a jump shot tying the game at 6-6 going into the first media timeout of the half.
Out of the commercial timeout, Southern Arkansas sank a jumper. The Rangers quickly responded with a layup from Bubba Furlong. Malik Parsons contributed another layup to put Northwestern ahead. The Muleriders responded with a 10-0 run to take the lead. Off the bench, Eric Hancik broke their run by sinking two free throws. Northwestern trailed by four 18-14 going into the second media timeout.
Out of the timeout, Chance Love made a layup for The Rangers to close the gap, starting the Northwestern run. Southern Arkansas responded with a jumper. Anthony Jones contributed a jumper and free throw for Northwestern, leaving them trailing by one 20-19 at the third media timeout. Love added an additional layup and two free throws out of the break. Hancik extended The Ranger lead with a layup. Off the bench, Jalen Smith contributed a freethow. A layup by the Muleriders ended the 10-0 Ranger run. Southern Arkansas contributed back to back layups to put them back in the lead 27-26 before the final media timeout of the half.
Out of the break, Free sank two free throws to give Northwestern the lead. Jones fired off a jumper to extend the lead. The Muleriders responded with a free throw. Love answered back with a free throw. Southern Arkansas scored another layup to trail by one. Love sank two free throws to keep The Rangers ahead. Off the bench, Ravel Moody fired off a three pointer. Four consecutive free throws by Southern Arkansas tied the game 36-36 at halftime. Love led the team with 9 points. Hancik led in rebounds with 3. Northwestern looks to build on their %54.5 field goal percentage in the next half.
2nd Half - Out of halftime, Parsons fired off a jumper to advance Northwestern to an early lead. The Muleriders responded with a free throw. White answered back with a layup. Southern Arkansas sank a three pointer. White contributed another layup for The Rangers. Moody fired off a three to extend Northwestern's lead. The Muleriders answered back with a three, leaving them trailing 45-44 going into the first media timeout.
Out of the commercial break, Southern Arkansas took the lead with a putback layup for the first time since the opening half. The Muleriders extended their lead by sinking back to back three pointers. Hancik ended the 8–0 Southern Arkansas run with two free throws. The Muleriders answered back with a free throw. Hancik responded with another free throw. Moody contributed his third three pointer of the afternoon for Northwestern. Southern Arkansas responded with two free throws. Moody answered back with a free throw tying the game at 52-52. Hancik contributed two free throws for The Rangers to put them in the lead. Off the bench, Smith added an additional layup to extend Northwestern's lead 56-52 going into the third media timeout.
Out of the timeout, The Muleriders sank a free throw. Northwestern answered back with Smith at the line. Southern Arkansas scored off back to back layups to tie the game 57-57. Furlong responded with a jumper putting the Rangers back in front. The Muleriders fired off a three pointer to take the lead. Furlong quickly responded with a dunk to leave Northwestern trailing 62-61 at the final media timeout of the game.
Out of the timeout, Southern Arkansas sunk four free throws to extend their lead. They added an additional layup. Love responded with a layup. Three consecutive free throws by The Mulerides sealed their victory against Northwestern 72-63.
The loss eliminated the Rangers from the conference tournament. The tournament will run through Sunday, March 6th in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
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