SHAWNEE – Northwestern Oklahoma State won Saturday evening over Oklahoma Baptist with a 81-76 victory to split the season series with the Bison. Northwestern opened the game with a fast start scoring the first seven points of the game before closing the game knocking down eight straight foul shots to seal the win.
The win improves Northwestern to 14-10 on the season with a 12-6 conference record. The win clinches a spot in this year's Great American Conference tournament.
Camron McDowell led the way for the Rangers with 20 points, one of four double figure scorers joined by Marquise Milton and Larry White each with 16 points and Brian Free with 15 points.
Marquise Milton opened the scoring Saturday evening drilling a three pointer to start the game off the opening jump ball. This helped the Rangers off to a great start as Milton scored the first five points of the game. Overall Northwestern scored the first seven after Larry White hit a layup for a 7-0 lead over Oklahoma Baptist. Nathan Wilson was the first to score for Oklahoma Baptist three minutes into the game. After Oklahoma Baptist scored four straight, White answered with four straight for the Rangers. The Bison continued to answer back though after a three pointer by Ricky Brown had the Rangers lead at four after the opening six minutes of the game.
Northwestern then went on a 6-0 run four points from Chance Love to give the Rangers their first double digit lead of the game at 17-7 with 12:30 left to go in the first half. The Bison then hit back to back three pointers followed by a Wade layup that cut the Ranger deficit to 17-15 halfway through the opening half. After the two teams traded baskets the Bison continued to dive into the Ranger lead cutting down to one at 24-23.
The Bison grabbed their first lead at 30-28 after a Ricky Brown three pointer for his sixth point of the half. Their lead grew to as many as four after seven straight points before Larry White ended their run. Seven straight from the Rangers late in the first half pushed Northwestern to a 37-33 lead again with under 30 seconds but Brown drilled a three pointer right before the half cut the Ranger lead at halftime 37-36 over Oklahoma Baptist.
To open the second half the Rangers and Bison traded baskets to start with six lead changes in the first two and a half minutes of the half at 43-42. The game was tied at 46-46 after a Bison layup with 15 minutes left to play in the game. Oklahoma Baptist grabbed their largest lead of the game at 54-48 with 13 minutes left followed by a couple of Wade points. A Brian Free three pointer though brought the Rangers back within one.
The Bison though answered with another run of their own after a Terry Coner pull up shot pushed their lead to seven at 65-58. Larry White sparked momentum on the Rangers side though in the next possession with a put back slam dunk sparking a 9-2 run and taking a 68-67 lead over the Bison with 2:43 left to play in the game. Marquise Milton extended the Ranger lead to 73-69 just under a minute left in the game after hitting a three pointer assisted by Free. After Oklahoma Baptist answered with a three pointer, the Rangers were able to seal the win at the foul line hitting eight straight down the stretch to close out the 81-76 win over Oklahoma Baptist.
Northwestern was back in action on Thursday evening against Harding University at home.
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