Tigers Unable to Clinch Road Win Over Northwestern Oklahoma

Courtesy Ouachita Baptist University Athletics Department

Sunday afternoon capped off a tough two-game swing through Oklahoma for the Ouachita Tigers (13-11, 9-9 GAC), as they dropped their final game of the trip to Northwestern Oklahoma (14-10, 12-6 GAC). The Tigers battled all night long, but 45 free throw attempts for the Rangers doomed the Tigers in an 87-80 loss.

The first half was a game of runs, with neither team able to separate themselves from the other. There were a number of five to six point leads for both teams, but the other seemed to always come right back and swing it the other way.

Late in the first half though, Northwestern went on a run that would give them the lead for good. They stretched their lead to as many as nine points, before they went into the half with an eight point advantage over the Tigers.

Ouachita wasn’t going down without a fight though, as they came back in the second half and quickly cut the lead to just two points. Northwestern again went on a run of their own though, stretching the lead back to nine points in a short span of time.

Another rally from the Tigers saw Northwestern’s lead cut to just one point with a little over nine minutes left in the game, but again the Rangers answered, this time for good. Ouachita would cut the lead back down to four points with a minute left, but the Rangers used a barrage of free throws to win the game.

Nigel Ramsey came up big in the game for the Tigers with 22 points and three assists, complemented by 16 points from Austin Mitchell and 14 from Micah Delph, but the rest of the team was unable to pick up the slack. Julian LaDay led the team in rebounding, with six in the game, while Michael Morris was a workhorse on defense with three blocks.

Northwestern’s duo of Daryl Glover and Jonathan Freemyer combined for 46 points, with 24 from Glover and 22 from Freeman. Bruce Wright and Eze Akwari contributed 11 points each, and Freemyer led the team on the boards with nine.

Ouachita made 18 of their 25 attempts from the charity stripe, but Northwestern attempted almost double what the Tigers did, making 31 of their 45 attempts. Ouachita turned the ball over 21 times to Northwestern’s 15, contributing to the loss as well.

Ouachita is back on the hardwood on Thursday, when they play their last road game of the season across the street. They will tip-off against Henderson State in the second installment of the Southern Bancorp Battle of the Ravine series at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

-Josh Fink, Sports Information Director