WEATHERFORD – SWOSU Men's Basketball buried a season-high 15 three-pointers Thursday night and rolled past Northwestern Oklahoma State 94-64 inside the Pioneer Event Center, avenging an earlier-season loss to the Rangers.
 
With six games remaining in the regular season, the win also gave the Bulldogs a crucial boost in the Great American Conference playoff race.
 
SWOSU used a late first-half surge to take control and never looked back, carrying momentum into a dominant second half that saw the Bulldogs build a lead as large as 28 points before closing out the 30-point victory.
 
After a back-and-forth start, SWOSU held a slim 31-28 advantage late in the opening half before finishing the period on a 12-2 run. Ty Frierson capped the surge with a step-back jumper at the buzzer, sending the Bulldogs into halftime with a 43-30 lead. Frierson scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the first half as SWOSU shot 61% and knocked down seven three-pointers over the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Bulldogs came out firing after the break, hitting six of their first seven shots and quickly stretching the margin to 26 with just over 14 minutes remaining. A brief cold stretch slowed the momentum, but SWOSU regained its rhythm and pulled away for good, steadily pushing the lead until the final horn.
 
SWOSU finished the game shooting 56% from the field while hitting at least 50% in both halves. The Bulldogs were red-hot from beyond the arc, going 15-of-29 (52%) to set a new season high in three-point makes. SWOSU also went 13-of-15 (87%) at the free throw line and improved to 7-1 this season when knocking down at least 10 threes.
 
Northwestern shot 47% overall, went 5-of-16 (31%) from three-point range, and finished 7-of-11 (64%) at the foul line.
 
Four Bulldogs scored in double figures. Frierson led the way with 20 points and five rebounds, knocking down 5-of-7 from deep. Tobias Roland and Elijah Jordan each added 18 points, while Walker Kennedy chipped in 10 on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting night.
 
SWOSU held a slight rebounding edge at 29-26 and committed three fewer turnovers than Northwestern, 14-11.
 
The win improves SWOSU to 10-12 overall and 7-9 in Great American Conference play. The Bulldogs will look to complete a perfect week and win a third straight game Saturday when Southern Nazarene visits Weatherford. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m. SWOSU fell to the Crimson Storm 83-55 before Christmas break.