Rangers men's basketball team takes tough loss in season opener

ALVA, Okla. – Northwestern Oklahoma State University men's basketball took a tough loss in their season opener against Northeastern State as they hosted the GAC/MIAA/NSIC Challenge on Friday night. After falling behind early, the Rangers were unable to punch through and took the loss 74-53. Senior transfer Jaedon Whitfield led the Rangers with 16 points on the night.

Northwestern started off slow early in the game as they went 8-28 in the first half of the match-up. After some back-and-forth early on the Riverhawks stepped on the gas and took a hefty 19-point lead that made the score 30-11 with 6:24 left in the first half. Back-to-back buckets from Whitfield spurred the Black and Red into some action as they ended the first half with a 14-point deficit at 37-23.

The Rangers came out better in the beginning minutes of the second half as junior Nathan Bailey nailed a huge three to get the Rangers to within nine at 39-30 with 17 minutes left in the second half. The Riverhawks took advantage of the next couple minutes and would again pull away as the score sat at 59-41 at the ten-minute mark. Northeastern extended their lead to 21 as the final minutes of the game ticked away. The Rangers dropped the match-up with a final score of 74-53.

The Rangers excelled in the paint with 28 points to Northeastern's 22, however the team struggled to stop the offensive boards from the Riverhawks. The tough night continued as the Black and Red went only 4-27 from beyond the arc, with the biggest detriment stemming from bench points. The Riverhawks earned 36 point form their bench while the Rangers tallied only 12.

Notable players included Whitfield who led the team in points with 16, and rebounds with 10, while hitting all six free-throw opportunities he had in the game. Junior Parrish Hewitt tallied 11 points in the match-up with 6 boards. Returning red-shirt junior Jack Peck stood out as the sixth man for the Rangers with 10 points out of the 12 points that stemmed from the Ranger bench. He also tallied six boards as he went 4-7 from the field.