LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Despite a strong second half surge from Arkansas Baptist, Northwest prevailed on the road behind Jitaurious Gordon's 17 points in a 89-78 victory on Thursday night.

Northwest won its second in a row and improved to 5-3 on the season. Arkansas Baptist fell to 3-7.

Both teams went back and forth to open the contest, as the Rangers trailed 6-5 four minutes into the opening half before taking a 16-15 advantage four minutes later.

Northwest began to slowly inch ahead of the Buffaloes from that point on, as Will Tribble's thunderous dunk pushed the Rangers' lead to 25-18 with 8:30 left in the first half.

The Rangers would outscore Arkansas Baptist over the final 5:52 of the half, going into halftime with a commanding 52-36 lead. Devon Benson and Kendrick Fountain scored 10 first half points apiece, while all nine of Gordon's points came from three-point range.

Arkansas Baptist would not go down quietly on its home court, as the Buffaloes staged a second half rally. Trailing 57-40 just four minutes in, ABC went on a 23-13 run to close the gap at 70-63 with 7:20 left to go.

The Rangers would once again catch fire at that point and embark on a 10-3 run themselves to push the margin back to a semi-comfortable 80-66 advantage.

Arkansas Baptist would pull within nine with less than two minutes to go, but foul trouble quickly caught up to the Buffaloes as the Rangers entered the double bonus. Subsequently, Northwest would get it done from the charity stripe to hold off ABC in the final 47 seconds.

Gordon's 17-point effort is his seventh time in double figures in the Rangers' eight games this season. Four more Rangers finished in double figures, led by 16 from Benson, 14 from Fountain and followed by Nick Edwards and Quez Williamson's 10 points apiece.

Arkansas Baptist was led by Tyler Cupid's 25 and 20 points from Devonta Harkless.

Northwest will host Itawamba on Monday, Dec. 3 for its division opener. Tipoff from Howard Coliseum is set for 7 p.m.