ALVA, OKLAHOMA - Northwestern Oklahoma State Men's Basketball is set for the first conference tournament game for the Rangers in the opening round matchup against Southwestern Oklahoma State with tip-off set for 2:15 at the Firelake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
The Rangers (16-12, 14-8) this season enter the tournament as the #3 seed in the conference facing off against the #6 seed Bulldogs (10-17, 10-12). This will be the third matchup of the season between the two teams after splitting the regular season matchup 1-1. Overall the Rangers lead the series history 14-12 dating back to 1998. This will be the first meeting between the two teams in Great American Conference tournament history.
Northwestern lost the first meeting by a final score of 75-72 in Weatherford, before winning the matchup in Alva 78-72. Brian Free and McDowell led with 18 each in the win while McDowell led with 21 points in the loss.
Overall this will be the sixth Great American Conference tournament game in school history as the Rangers come in 1-4 with a win in the 2018 season. Southwestern is 7-6 in GAC tournament history playing in their 14th game looking for their second title after winning in 2022.
The Great American Conference announced their annual awards on Wednesday evening ahead of the conference tournament. The Rangers had first team all conference players in Brian Free and second team all conference in Camron McDowell. Southwestern had first team all conference member in Ben Smith.
Overall this season the Rangers have been led by Camron McDowell in scoring at 16.4 points per game as one of three double figure scorers joined by Brian Free at 14.4 and Larry White at 11 points per game. Free leads the Rangers and the conference in three point shooting with 88 made three pointers on the season and 45% from three. McDowell leads the team with 58 assists on the season entering the conference tournament. Larry White has led the team on defense with 48 steals and 30 blocks on the season while bringing in a team high five rebounds per game.
For Southwestern the Bulldogs have been led by Ben Smith at 17.3 points per game as one of three double figure scorers like the Rangers. He is joined by Jalen Johnson at 12.2 and Mark Berry at 10.4 points per game. Mj Warrior leads the team with 105 assists on the season. Warrior leads the team in steals with 32 on the season while Ben Smith leads the team with 13 blocks. Berry leads the Bulldogs with 7.4 rebounds per game.
Coverage for the game can be found on the Great American Conference network (https://www.youtube.com/@GACAthletics), live stats found at (https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=519930) and listened to on the radio at 105.7KRDR or (https://www.alvaradio.com/).
For the latest news and updates on NWOSU Athletics, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com.
