SENATOBIA – Three players finished in double figures for Northwest as the Rangers shot 59 percent from the free throw line in a 74-64 victory against Arkansas Baptist on Monday evening.

With the win, Northwest remained unbeaten at Howard Coliseum and improved to 4-1 on the year. Arkansas Baptist dropped to 3-2 overall.

It was a back-and-forth affair in the opening minutes of the first half and it remained that way for both teams throughout most of the contest. Northwest attained its largest first half lead of five off a jumper from James Richards III six minutes in.

Arkansas Baptist quickly erased the Rangers' momentum with a 9-0 scoring run, capped off by a Laquan Davie three-pointer, regaining the lead at 15-11 with 11:27 to go.

A brief surge with less than 10 minutes remaining allowed Northwest to take back a three-point advantage, but the Buffaloes responded yet again to take a three-point lead of their own, 28-25, thanks to a Kendrick Thorn layup in the paint.

Arkansas Baptist got some breathing room late in the first half with a three-pointer from Tyler Cubit, but a similar response from Milton McGee, Jr. helped Northwest cut the deficit to two at halftime, 39-37.

Despite giving up a pair of easy fastbreak layups to open the second half, the Rangers locked in for the remaining 19 minutes of the contest, using a three from Kavonte Tunstall and a Jakobi Pearson layup to cut the Buffaloes' lead from six to one, 43-42.

After a couple ties and lead changes midway through the second half, Arkansas Baptist took the lead for an eight-minute stretch but the Rangers never trailed by more than five.

With 6:14 remaining, Pearson finally got the Rangers back on top with a three-pointer, followed up by a layup from Richards and a three from Montez Allen, sending Northwest back ahead by six, 66-60.

Pearson's basket helped keep the Rangers ahead for good, as Northwest stretched its lead to 10 in the final minute of the contest.

One of the biggest differences came at the charity stripe, where the Rangers finished 59 percent compared to a meager 35 percent from the Buffaloes. Arkansas Baptist held advantages in bench points (28-20) and fast break points (24-16).

Pearson led the Rangers with 21 points and eight rebounds, finishing shy of a double-double. Tunstall added 13 and Richards scored 12 while adding seven rebounds and six assists.

Cubit paced Arkansas Baptist with 26 points and eight boards, followed by 14 from Davie and 10 from Thorn.

Northwest will resume action on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. against Faith Prep. Live stats can be tracked through nwccrangers.com.