Home win-streak snapped in last-second loss to Southeastern
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January 19, 2018
Lynn L. Martin
Ranger Trey Johnson (14) is fouled as he goes up for a shot against Southeastern's Ryan Scott-McGuire in Thursday's game.
ALVA, Okla. - Northwestern Oklahoma State men's basketball dropped their first home game of the 2017-18 season Thursday evening, losing 75-73 to Southeastern Oklahoma State inside a packed Percefull Fieldhouse. Despite a strong defensive effort that produced 10 blocked shots (including four from Treyvon Andres) and five steals, the Rangers couldn't stop the duo of A'Torey Everett and Kevin Buckingham who went for 21 points each.
After a Jett Jobe jumper with 4.6 seconds left in the ball game gave the Storm a two-point lead, Cody Halvorson had the chance to play hero once again but his highly contested three at the buzzer came up shy of the basket to end the Rangers home win streak at eight games.
With a few guys in the Ranger locker room battling flu-like symptoms, head coach Shawn Dirden was working with a depleted bench and only had eight players dressed for the game. In their absence, Dirden relied heavily on his starters to pick up the bulk of the minutes.
Halvorson led the offensive threat for Northwestern in a much-anticipated matchup featuring number two and three in the Great American Conference standings. The senior out of Temple, Texas connected on five three-pointers for the Rangers, but what would have been a sixth and game winning shot was guarded well by Southeastern's Adam Dworsky.
Playing their fourth game in seven days, Northwestern did lead four times in the contest but couldn't gain enough momentum to take advantage of the Savage Storm's 11 turnovers. The Rangers shot 46 percent from the field (29-for-63) and were 11-of-26 on three-pointers, with three coming from Brandon Green (3-for-8, 9 pts). Green added a team-high seven assists for a Northwestern squad that tallied 20 helpers in the loss.
Both teams played disciplined basketball, combining for just 19 personal fouls and 13 free throw attempts.
Up Next
With the loss, the Rangers (11-4, 7-3 GAC) fall one spot in the GAC standings to a tie for 3rd as they will prepare to take on East Central (9-5, 7-3 GAC) on Saturday, who find themselves neck-and-neck with Northwestern after a three-point loss to Oklahoma Baptist. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. from Percefull Fieldhouse.
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