MONTICELLO, Ark. - The Northwestern Oklahoma State men's basketball team used a strong second half erasing a 12 point second half deficit to beat Arkansas-Monticello 64-59 on Thursday night.
The Rangers came out hot in the first four minutes jumping out to a six point lead. The Bollweevils answered with four straight points to make it a 9-7 Northwestern lead at the first media timeout. Arkansas-Monticello took a brief lead at 10-9 with just under 16 minutes left, but Northwestern used an 8-4 run to regain the lead 17-14 at the second media break of the half.
The Rangers saw their lead get down to just one midway through the half at 17-16, however another 8-4 run brought it up to five at 25-20 going into the under eight minute media break. The Bollweevils went on a 7-2 run to tie things up at 27 at the final media break of the half. After leading for most of the half, the Rangers found themselves trailing 37-27 late in the half after a Bollweevil 13-0 run in the final four minutes. Northwestern broke up the Arkansas-Monticello run with a pair of free throws and headed into the locker room down 37-29.
The two sides opened the first four minutes of the second half exchanging baskets as the Rangers found themselves down 45-36 at the first media stoppage. Northwestern built some momentum tightening things up defensively to narrow the gap to 47-40 at the under 16 media timeout. The Rangers grasped the momentum firmly with a 9-0 run cutting the Bollweevil lead to 47-45 with 10:21 remaining in the game.
Back to Back three pointers by Keyondre Young gave the Rangers the lead 51-47 midway through the second half. Northwestern couldn't keep Arkansas-Monticello down as they answered back to cut the lead to 51-49 at the eight minute media break. The Rangers led 54-52 going into the final media stoppage of the half, as both teams tightened up on the defensive end. Northwestern controlled the final minutes of the game to come out victorious.
Max Alexander led the Rangers offensively with 26 points. Robbie Armbreaster and Young each had 14. Young also pulled down 10 rebounds on the night.
Northwestern will return to the hardwood on Saturday, January 17th at 3:00 p.m. when they take on Southern Arkansas in Magnolia, Arkansas.
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