MOORHEAD - In a night that featured points from nearly every player that checked in, Northwest used a big first half cushion to hold off a mid-second half surge from Mississippi Delta, earning an 88-69 victory on Monday evening.

Four players reached double figures for the Rangers, led by 19 points from Ethan Pickett and 14 off the bench from Kareem Thompson. With the win, Northwest improved to 10-2 on the season and 3-1 in MACCC competition, while Mississippi Delta fell to 2-11 overall and 0-4 against conference opponents.

Despite a low-scoring output from both teams in the first 10 minutes, Northwest built a 10-2 advantage midway through the first half and stretched the gap to a 41-27 halftime lead. Mississippi Delta stormed back to open the second half, pulling within as little as two points with 12 minutes left to go, only for Northwest to regroup and pull away over the final 10 minutes of regulation.

In addition to Pickett and Thompson's double-digit scoring outputs, Joseph Cooper also provided 12 points and nine assists, while Isaiah Gaines tallied 11 points and six rebounds. Despite being the only player held scoreless on the evening, Quen Kyles led the Rangers with 10 rebounds, including seven on the defensive side of the ball.

Northwest shot 45 percent from the floor and 31 percent from three-point range. The Rangers also collected 45 rebounds on the evening and finished 10-of-19 in free throws.

With the victory, Northwest extended its all-time series lead to 85-40 over the Trojans, while improving to 5-1 on the road.

Next up for the Rangers is a meeting with 24th-ranked Northeast on Thursday, January 13 at Howard Coliseum. It will mark the first meeting of the season between the two teams and the second time in a week span that Northwest has faced a nationally-ranked opponent.

Tipoff between Northwest and the Tigers is set for 6 P.M. on Ranger TV (nwccrangers.com/watch) and Facebook Live.