SUMMIT - Northwest was outpaced 43-27 in the first half of Monday's season finale at Southwest Mississippi, falling 89-71 to the Bears.
Sophomore
Tyler Spears saved the best two games of his Ranger career for last, scoring a career-high 18 points against Mississippi Gulf Coast and earning 16 at Southwest Mississippi. Fellow sophomore
Dorian Booker also totaled 13 points, with
Keanu Patrick and
Shavurdacour Nicholas ending their respective Northwest careers with eight points each.
Southwest Mississippi took a 19-11 lead with 12 minutes and change remaining in the first half, and the Rangers stayed close over the next six and a half minutes. However, the Bears soon caught fire and outscored Northwest by a 15-6 margin over the remainder of the first half.
Northwest tried to claw back over the course of the second half, but the Rangers were just unable to match the energy from Southwest Mississippi, as the Bears remained ahead by double figures the rest of the way.
Northwest shot 40 percent from the floor and were a dismal 2-for-18 from three-point range. Southwest Mississippi finished 49 percent on the evening and 26 percent from beyond the arc. Both teams finished near-even in free throw shooting, with the Rangers making 72 percent of their shots and the Bears going 77 percent from the line.
Patrick's eight rebounds led Northwest in that category, though Nichols was a close second with seven boards.
LaMarcus Crawford also picked up six rebounds off the bench, and joined
D'Andre Dues and
Caleb Hunt with six points apiece.
Three players finished in double digits for Southwest Mississippi, led by Talik Weeks' 25 points. Ahmadou Ndiaye and Jaylen Haliburton also totaled 19 and 13 points, respectively.
With the loss, Northwest ends the 2024-25 season at 6-19 overall and 1-13 in the MACCC.
