FULTON – Shelby McEwen's offensive rebound and putback with 19:13 left in the second half put Northwest on top 41-39 and the Rangers never looked back in a hard-fought 79-72 road victory over Itawamba Monday night. 

Northwest improved to 11-5 overall and 4-2 in the division, moving into a first place tie with Itawamba and Holmes. The Indians dropped to 8-8 and 4-2 with the loss.

Neither team led by more than five in the first half, with the Rangers closing on a 9-3 run to take a 37-36 lead at the break. Keelin Jackson pumped in back-to-back 3-pointers and Jaylan Shelton added a jumper and free throw as part of the run.

Charles Brown's 3-pointer knotted the game at 39-39 seconds into the second half for Itawamba, but it was an 8-0 Northwest run that turned the game in favor of the visitors. 

McEwen and Dante Sterling combined for all eight points, with Sterling's steal and fastbreak dunk forcing Itawamba to call a timeout trailing 47-39.

Out of the timeout, the Indians responded with a 10-4 run of their own to make it a 51-49 game with 12:09 to play.

Northwest would make good on four of its next six shots to quickly stretch the lead back out to nine, with Alex Shepard scoring five points and Shelton adding three free throws. 

Itawamba was able to hang around most of the second half thanks to a favorable whistle. The Indians scored 18 of their 36 second half points on the free throw line, shooting 23 down the stretch against only eight for Northwest.

Sterling's half-court heave to Shelton on an alley-oop put the icing on the cake with 2:41 to play. 

Jackson and Sterling scored 18 apiece to lead the Rangers on the night. Northwest's bench also provided a huge spark, outscoring Itawamba 34-11. Shelton had 14 and Therrell Gosier II and Shepard added nine apiece.

Brian Halums led four ICC players in double figures with 18 points, but was held to just five in the second half. 

Northwest will welcome EMCC (6-9, 2-4 north) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in Senatobia.