Box Score
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ALVA, Okla. – A spirited crowd at Percefull Fieldhouse was treated to an exceptional basketball game on Thursday night as SWOSU and Northwestern needed five extra minutes to determine a winner. Eventually it was the Rangers holding on for the 90-89 overtime victory over the Bulldogs, their second one-point win against SWOSU this season.
Rod Camphor put on an all-conference performance, scoring 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting that included 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range before fouling out in the final seconds of regulation.
SWOSU took a 73-72 lead into final possession of regulation and forced a missed shot, but Adrian Motley grabbed the rebound for Northwestern and he was awarded free throws after Camphor was called for his fifth foul on the put back. Motley made the first free throw and missed the second but they retained possession after SWOSU's
Jalen Dorsey hit the deck while going for the rebound.
Northwestern would miss the ensuing shot at the end of regulation, but as the teams cleared the floor to return to their benches, players from both teams came together in a dust up that resulted in a technical foul against SWOSU's
Gary Inglett.
The Rangers got two free points to start overtime via the technical free throws, but SWOSU would take the lead twice early on after 3-pointers by
Trent Washington and Inglett. Each time, however, Northwestern had an answer and they had an 83-81 lead with just over a minute left when controversy again struck.
Jordan Franz pulled down the rebound on a missed basket by NWOSU and as he cleared the rebound he was called for an intentional elbow that appeared to make minimal contact with the head of Adrian Motley. In any event, the play resulted in two free throws and the ball for Northwestern, who seized the opportunity and stretched their lead to six at 87-81.
As they've done all season, however, the Bulldogs continued to battle and cut that lead down to one points at 90-89 with six seconds left after Borders hit a pair of free throws. Brandon Wooley went to the line for the Rangers and missed both free throws but a desperation half-court shot at the buzzer by Franz was off line and left victory in the hands of the home team.
Four of the Bulldogs starters combined to score 84 of their 89 points on Thursday. Camphor had 29, Washington put up 21 and Inglett and Borders each had 17. The fifth starter,
Michael Bradley, was limited to just 17 minutes of action after being called for a technical foul early in the second half.
"I'm extremely proud of our guys for tonight's effort," Coach
Bob Battisti said following the game. "We fought tooth and nail all game long but dropped a heartbreaker."
The loss means SWOSU ends the regular season 17-9 and with a 14-6 conference record. Arkansas Tech's last-second win over Harding on Thursday means that SWOSU will need the Wonder Boys to lose at East Central on Saturday in order to grab a share of the conference title.
