Alva Review-Courier -

ALVA - Northwestern Oklahoma State came home for their home opener after two straight on the road to start the season. The Rangers capitalized on forcing 23 turnovers to help lead to a 30-point victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State Wednesday evening.

The win brings the Rangers to 1-2 on the season following the victory that snapped a two-game losing streak. This is the fourth consecutive home-opener win for the Rangers.

Northwestern was led in scoring by Brian Free with 23 points knocking down a team-high five three-pointers in the win. Larry White led the team with six rebounds, as Camron McDowell led with four assists.

Oklahoma Panhandle State opened the scoring this evening with a fastbreak dunk following a missed shot from the Rangers. Free quickly tied the game after being awarded foul shots following a Panhandle technical foul. Kabeya Tshibangu gave the Rangers their first lead of the game after following his own miss with an offensive rebound put back for a 4-2 lead.

As the Rangers led 7-6 at the 16-minute mark, Brian Free and DaRaun Clark led the charge for Northwestern helping push the Rangers to a 13-2 run, combining for 11 of those points. Northwestern opened their largest lead to that point at 20-8 with 13:38 remaining. The Rangers held the Aggies to 1 of 3 shooting with three turnovers in the three-minute stretch.

The Aggies followed with a small run to cut the Ranger lead down to six at 23-17 following back-to-back layups by Ethan Wiley. Larry White silenced the Aggie run and helped spark Northwestern's next best push going on an 18-4 run to take a 20-point lead at 41-21 following a Jabiri Smith three pointer with 3:27 remaining in the opening half. White and Tshibangu led the charge with six points each on the run while the team shot 8-11 from the field and forced seven turnovers and held Oklahoma Panhandle State to 1 of 6 shooting in the six-minute stretch.

Northwestern went into halftime with a 43-24 lead following a Chance Love made basket as the final two minutes were scoreless.

Desiree Morehead

Guard Camron McDowell (3) rebounds the ball and passes it over a Panhandle State player to his teammate.

The Rangers started a little slow in the second half before Brian Free knocked down a three pointer to give him 18 points in the game off White's second assist for the first points of the second half. Northwestern then went on a 10-1 run over the next three minutes as Free and McDowell combined for all ten points, five from each, shooting 4-6 from the field.

Northwestern continued to extend the lead through the second half as the next five minutes went on a 17-3 run this time led by seven points from Justin Norris and six from Chance Love with the two combining for 13 points in the stretch.

Oklahoma Panhandle State had their best stretch late in the game finishing on a 12-3 run as the Rangers won by 30 points. Skyler Kimberlin knocked down his first three-pointer to give the Rangers 80 before the final horn sounded with an 80-50 Northwestern victory over the Aggies Wednesday night.

Northwestern will continue a three-game home stretch on Saturday against Oklahoma City University, with tip-off set for 3 p.m. against the Stars.