ALVA, OKLAHOMA - History was made Saturday afternoon in Percefull Fieldhouse as Malik Parsons set a new record for points in a game for Ranger program history. A record that has been held since 1993. Parsons scored 45 points in the loss Saturday breaking the previous mark of 41. After a back and forth game Southeastern hit a last second shot to get by the Rangers 95-93.
Northwestern had three players score double figures led by Parsons with 45 followed by Larry White with 14 and Eric Hancik at 10 points.
The teams traded baskets to start the game as Hancik put the Rangers on the board at 2-2. Parsons hit a three to give the Rangers their first lead at 5-4. Neither team could find an advantage in the early going with four lead changes in the opening four minutes of the game. Northwestern held a 9-8 lead at the 16 minute mark.
Southeastern though answered back with a 9-0 scoring run taking a 17-9 lead with 11:39 left to play in the game. White silenced the run with a 10:43 to play followed by Jareon Mayo making a layup. After the Storm pushed the lead to nine Northwestern answered with a 8-2 run closing the gap to three after a dunk by Kennedy Milton.
White kept the Rangers in striking distance with six straight points matching with Southeastern as the Rangers trailed 30-25. Southeastern went on a 6-0 run to push their lead back to eight though at 35-27. Parsons closed off a layup to end their run. The Storm though were able to push their lead to double digits for the first time at 39-29. Parson scored four straight for the Rangers including the final two foul shots and cut the deficit of points int the half to take a 43-35 deficit into halftime.
Northwestern started the second half strong scoring the first six points and White drove to the basket completing the layup followed by four points by Parsons and the Rangers were back within two. Parsons answered a Savage Storm three with one of his own as the Rangers trailed 48-46 with 17:47 to play.
A Brian Free three pointer gave the Rangers their first lead since the first half with 16:32 remaining in the game. Burns answered to tie the game at 50-50. Hancik kept the Rangers scoring going with a layup along with Chance Love as the Rangers led 54-51. Northwestern held the lead until the 14:36 point in the game before a Burns three pointer tied the game at 56-56. Back to back three pointers as Clouet hit another pushed Southeastern back in front at 59-56.
The teams continued to go back and forth as a Parsons three pointer tied the game at 61-61. Southeastern went on a 6-0 run taking a 67-61 advantage. Eric Hancik finished a layup off a rebound and an assist by Larry White but Southeastern continued to answer holding a seven point lead at 72-65 at the nine minute mark.
The game stayed that way until eight minutes left before a three point play by Parsons sparked a Ranger comeback run. A three point play had the Rangers back within firve points at 75-70. A three pointer by Marquise Milton had Northwestern within one before regaining the lead at 77-76 with 6:16 remaining. The game was tied 81-81 before Kennedy Milton pushed the Rangers in front by three. Northwestern was up 89-85 with two minutes left to play.
After the Savage Storm cut into the Ranger lead Parsons helped maintain a one point lead following a layup. A three pointer by Sternberger pushed the Savage Storm in front 93-91 before a Parsons layup tied the game. Burns then hit the final shot of the night in the final seconds with 0.3 left in the game to beat the Rangers 95-93.
