SENATOBIA – Sophomore Jitaurious Gordon tabbed his first career double-double (25 points, 10 rebounds) and sparked a second half Ranger rally, but Northeast still escaped with a 98-94 victory on Monday night at Howard Coliseum.

With the loss, Northwest fell to 8-4 overall and 2-1 in the division, snapping a five game winning streak. Northeast improved to 12-2 and 2-1 in division competition.

Northeast sophomore Felix Hayes got the Tigers going early, hitting three straight from beyond the arc to earn nine quick points and a 14-5 lead just five minutes into the contest.

As Gordon started to heat up, the Rangers staged a 14-4 rally over the next five minutes, taking a 19-18 lead off a Kendrick Fountain layup.

A layup from Quez Williamson saw Northwest take its largest lead of three, 21-18, with 9:24 left in the half.

Northeast made sure the lead would be short-lived, as Hayes and Tigers surged back for a 20-3 run that would put the Rangers in a 14-point deficit.

Though the Rangers would trim the lead back down to five off Gordon's fast break layup, Northeast never relinquished control of the lead, instead pushing the Rangers' deficit to 11 at the break.

While Northwest was able to cut the Tigers' lead down below 10 several times in the first few minutes of the second half, Northeast always had an answer. The Tigers' lead reached its largest point of 15 at 80-75 with 6:03 to go.

Northwest would stage one last exciting rally over the final six minutes, slowly carving into the Tigers' lead. Gordon's layup at the 4:57 mark cut the deficit to nine and a layup from Williamson at the 3:39 mark brought the Rangers within four.

Trailing by four with 1:36 remaining, the Rangers picked up a crucial defensive stop and turned it into points on the other end with a layup from Gordon, pulling within 92-90 with 33 seconds left.

Hayes and DeAnthony Tipler would each hit a pair of free throws on the other end to bring the Northeast lead back to six. Although the Rangers would get a pair of baskets from Williamson and Alec Rayburn, they were followed by another free throw from Denzel McDuffey that would wind up sealing the narrow win for the Tigers.

Aside from Gordon's career performance, the Rangers were also helped by four other players in double figures, led by 18 points from Williamson. Starters Devon Benson and Fountain added 16 and 14 points, respectively, while Nick Edwards scored a career-best 13 off the bench.

Hayes led all scorers with 33 points for Northeast, with 24 coming from three-point range. McDuffey and Tipler finished with 20 and 18, respectively.

Northwest will set its sights on East Mississippi (8-6, 2-1 division) on Thursday, Jan. 17. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. from Scooba.