ALVA, OKLAHOMA - Northwestern Oklahoma State Men's Basketball team won their second straight game on Saturday afternoon against the Oklahoma City Stars. After a Ranger lead was cut to 51-50 a 13-4 answer pushed the lead back to double digits before the Rangers closed out the 78-62 victory.
The Rangers even their record to 2-2 following the Saturday victory with a 2-0 home record. Northwestern was led by Cameron McDowell with 19 points as one of four double figure scorers in the game with Chance Love and Brian Free each with 12, while Marquise Milton had 11. Larry White had 11 rebounds.
Cameron McDowell started things for the Rangers knocking down his first three pointer of the game to even the score after the Stars struck with one first. This was a defensive battle to start things off as neither team scored in the opening two and a half minutes. Avery Jackson gave the stars a 5-3 lead at the 16:20 mark, before Larry White got his first points of the game tying it back. Free gave the Rangers the team's first lead at 7-5 at the 15:12 mark. Chance Love fired off his first three pointer to swing the lead back into Northwestern's favor at 11-10.
The Rangers really took over the first half within a five minute stretch following a 16-2 run that was started by the Love three pointer. During that stretch Northwestern forced two turnovers and held the Stars to 1-10 shooting. Love led the team with six points during the stretch and five others with two points for a balanced offensive attack that went 7 of 12. With this run the Rangers went up 24-12 for the largest lead of that point in the game.
The Stars tried to climb back in the game ending the run with a three pointer but Larry White, and McDowell answered with back to back shots to push it back to 28-15. Northwestern continued to hold the double digit lead following a Deatrick Pashell hook shot for a 34-20 lead. The Stars were able to push the Rangers lead back under the double digits but once more the Rangers had the answer with a 7-2 run pushing the lead back to 41-27 for a 14 point halftime lead.
In the second half Kabeya Tshibangu opened the second half with his second basket of the game assisted by Brian Free taking a 43-27 lead. The Stars had their best run of the game after two White foul shots taking a 47-36 lead. The Rangers were held scoreless for three minutes as the Stars cut the Ranger lead down to 47-40 with 13:39 left in the game before Marquise Milton knocked in his third basket of the game. The Stars continued their run this time with a 10-2 run to cut the game down to 51-50.
Northwestern used back to back shots first by Brian Free with a pull up jump shot for his ninth point of the afternoon before Chance Love completed a three point play after finishing off a layup and drawing the foul he hit the foul shot for a 56-50 lead. Off of White's eighth rebound started a fast break that was finished off by a McDowell dunk for a 7-0 run. Northwestern had their lead back to double digits at 64-54 following a McDowell layup.
The visitors got as close as six points again at 66-60 before Northwestern finished the game on a 12-2 run. Love closed home another three point play after rattling off a dunk while drawing the foul and finishing the three point play after a timeout for a 69-60 lead. Brian Free and Justin Norris knocked down back to back three pointers to seal the victory for the Rangers.
Northwestern will return to action on Saturday afternoon November 25th with tip-off set for 3:00 PM against Midwestern State.
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