ALVA, Okla. – SWOSU Men's Basketball was tied at halftime on the road vs Northwestern on Thursday but got narrowly edged in the second half in a 78-72 defeat.
 
The Rangers split the regular season series with the win. The Bulldogs had previously defeated Northwestern back in January. SWOSU moves to 8-9 in the GAC and will prepare to travel to Southeastern on Saturday to cap off a four-game stretch away from home.
 
In a game with razor thin margins, SWOSU's turnovers proved costly. While both teams finished with similar blunders, 14-12 in favor of Northwestern, the opportunistic Rangers cashed their forced turnovers into 23 points while SWOSU managed 13.

Northwestern used a balance attack on offense that saw six different scorers finish in double figures. They shot 51% in the game, 55% in the second half, and were 11-of-20 (55%) from the three-point line. Their final field goal percentage was the second highest allowed to an opponent this season, while the three-point percentage was the highest.
 
SWOSU controlled the first half, but Northwestern scored the final seven points to force a tie at halftime at 37-37. Jalen Johnson scored 17 of his 24 in the first 20 minutes to help keep the Dawgs out in front in the early going.
 
After halftime, momentum swung to the home side. The Rangers opened a 58-50 lead with 11:52 to play but it was quickly nullified thanks to points on each of SWOSU's next four possessions for an 8-0 run. Tied again, now with under 10 minutes to play, SWOSU didn't have enough left to keep pace. Northwestern connected on back-to-back threes which provided enough breathing room to maintain their lead for the remainder of the contest.
 
Eli Al-Debaran knocked down a pair of clutch three pointers down the stretch to keep the Dawgs in the game late, but SWOSU never regained the lead after the halfway point of the second half.
 
Johnson led the team with 24 points and Ben Smith added 21 including a team high 13 in the second half.
 
NWOSU also shot 12-of-13 (92%) from the foul line in the second half.
 
Final numbers had SWOSU 25-for-54 (46%) from the field and 8-of-20 (40%) from beyond the arc. They made seven free throws in each half, 14-of-18 overall.