MONTICELLO, Ark. – Northwestern Oklahoma State men's basketball team won their fifth straight game Monday night completing the season sweep over Arkansas Monticello 71-55. Northwestern used a 9-0 run in the second half to answer a Monticello 7-0 to push the Red-and-Black lead to 20 points. Northwestern would never trail in this game as there were two ties in the opening minutes of the game but the Rangers controlled the rest of the way.

Northwestern improves to 14-6 on the season with a 9-5 conference record following the fifth straight victory. The Rangers currently sit in fourth place in the Great American Conference Standings.

Brian Free led all scorers with 22 points in the win after knocking down six three's in the win. He was one of three double-figure scorers for the Rangers, joined by Bubba Furlong with a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds. Malik Parsons finished with 19 points for the Red-and-Black. Furlong got it done defensively as well with six steals and a block in the win.

First Half

Northwestern opened the game with a quick 5-2 run as Parsons drilled a three along with a Jones layup as the Rangers struck first and would never lose the lead in the game. Monticello answered back but the Rangers controlled the game from the opening tip. Furlong finished the first half with five steals in the game.

The game would be tied twice at 2-2 and 5-5 in the opening minutes before Northwestern stamped their mark in the half. Furlong completed a three point play to push the Rangers back up 8-5 followed by a White layup before Furlong finished off another three point play giving the Rangers a 13-5 lead and an 8-0 run with 13 minutes to play in the opening half. Ravel Moody knocked down two foul shots before Parson finished off a fast break with a dunk giving the Rangers a 17-10 lead into the under 12 media timeout.

Right out of the timeout Furlong pushed the lead to nine, the largest at that point in the game 19-10. Monticello cut their deficit to three at 21-18 following a 7-0 run out of the under eight timeout before Northwestern made their push. As the game of runs continued, Northwestern jumped on an 8-0 run as the Rangers extended their lead to 11 at 29-18. Parsons and Free hit back-to-back three pointers following two Ranger foul shots before Monticello would end the Ranger run.

The two teams traded three pointers as the Rangers maintained their 11 point lead. As the Rangers held 11 for the final three minutes of the half the Weevils buried a three-pointer right before the end of the half. The Rangers held an eight point lead into the halftime break. Northwestern led 36-28 through the opening 20 minutes as Free and Parsons led the team with 10 points each.

Second Half

Arkansas-Monticello opened the second half scoring but the Rangers answered right back with a White layup holding the eight point lead. Parsons would push the lead back to double digits at 40-30 as Free followed with a three pointer to give the Rangers a 43-30 lead for a quick 7-0 run. The defensive intensity would pick up even more with neither team scoring in the next two minutes. Parsons knocked down a layup forcing a Monticello timeout out for the under 16 media timeout as the Rangers held a 45-33 lead at the stoppage.

Out of the timeout the Weevils knocked down a three before Jones answered back with a layup holding the double digit lead at 11. Northwestern completed one of two 9-0 runs in the second half as this first one would push the Rangers to their largest lead at 54-36 at the 11:36 mark of the second half.

The home team would not go away just yet as the Weevils sparked a 7-0 run for themselves getting as close as 11 at 58-47 with just under seven minutes left in the game. Eric Hancik put a stop to the run drilling a three pointer followed by another Free three one of his six on the game to put the Rangers quickly back up 17 with Free hitting his second straight three. Northwestern held their 20 point lead at 71-51 with 1:44 left in the game. Arkansas Monticello scored the final four points of the game as the Rangers won the Monday night game 71-55 over the Weevils.