ALVA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State men's basketball team fell to Ouachita Baptist, 78-63, on Thursday night.

The Rangers got off to a hot start, as both Justin Norris and Kenny Burns III hit three-pointers to give Northwestern an early 12-6 advantage four minutes into the game. The Tigers countered with a 14-0 run midway through the first half to put Ouachita up 26-16.

The Rangers kept trying to regain their momentum, and finally found it when Cam'ron Brown helped spark a 9-0 run to tie the game at 30 with 4 minutes left in the first half. Northwestern and Ouachita continued to go back-and-forth in the first half, but the Tigers went on a 10-0 run to lead 42-32 at the end of the first half.

Max Alexander opened the scoring for the second half with four straight points to bring the deficit down to eight, but the Tigers pushed the lead back to 10 with 17 minutes to go in the game. The Rangers continued to chop into the lead with a jumper from Brown and a free throw from Chris Tippins to bring the deficit down to seven, but Ouachita quickly countered to once again lead by double digits. The Rangers made multiple attempts to rally back, but the Tigers continued to pull away to win 78-63.

Alexander led the Rangers in scoring and rebounds with 25 points and five boards, while Brown led in assists with seven.

The Rangers will be back in action on Jan. 10, when they take on Henderson State University at 3 p.m. inside Percefull Fieldhouse.

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