CAMDEN, Ark. – Despite a pair of 20-point outings from Jitaurious Gordon and Devon Benson, Northwest was unable to complete a furious second half comeback in a 98-95 loss at SAU Tech on Tuesday night.

Northwest fell to 1-1 on the season, while the Rockets improved to 3-0 in their inaugural season.

The difference in the contest came from the charity stripe and beyond the arc. SAU Tech hit 14 three-pointers and the Rangers was just 20-of-34 from the free throw line

Both teams opened the contest at an intense pace, trading baskets on nearly every possession with the Rangers holding a slim 15-14 advantage roughly six minutes into the contest.

SAU Tech began to gradually pull away as the first half drew to a close, thanks in part to the 20-point efforts of Sheldon Steven and stretched the Rockets' lead to 20 with three minutes remaining.

Northwest managed to slightly close the gap as the halftime buzzer sounded, but still trailed 54-38 at the break.

Although the Rockets' seemed to pull away once again in the early stages of the second half, the Rangers continued to hang around and eventually began to quietly cut into the deficit. After trailing 81-65 with less than 11 minutes to go, Northwest went on a 21-11 scoring run over the next seven minutes and change to trim the gap to six, 92-86.

Northwest continued to put the Rockets on the ropes, as Benson's two-handed slam was followed by a pair of made free throws from Mike Robinson, pulling the Rangers within two at 96-94 with 39 seconds to go.

Ultimately the rally wouldn't be completed, however, as missed free throw prevented the Rangers from tying it up. After the Rockets made both free throws on the other end with nine seconds left, Northwest was unable to find a tying shot, falling 98-95.

Gordon led the Rangers with a new career-high of 27 points, 15 from three-point range, while Benson had an equally solid performance with 23 points. Nick Edwards also pitched in 10 points in the losing effort.

Steven and Jaland Mitchell finished with 29 and 25, respectively, to lead SAU Tech.

Northwest will aim to get back in the win column at Tennessee Prep on Thursday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.