The Highlanders came up just shy of upsetting the No. 2 Rangers, falling 75-68.
It was a tough battle between the two squads from the opening tip to the final buzzer. Ranger took the early lead at 4-2 with just a minute and a half off the clock. A 5-0 run by the Highlanders' Chris Pryor put McLennan up by three less than a minute later. The Rangers added a bucket to trim the lead to one before buckets by Asare Otchere and Rayquan Brown extended the Highlander lead to five, 11-6. Ranger rallied to tie the game at 11 with 15:17 to go in the first half, and the teams traded the lead. McLennan led 14-13 with 11:38 on the clock. Ranger began to pull away, using a 10-0 run over the next three minutes. The Rangers pushed the lead to 12, 31-19 with 4:25 remaining before intermission, but McLennan wasn't going to be outdone. The Highlanders rattled off a 15-2 run highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Akili Vining and another from Pryor to end the half with a one-point advantage, 34-33.
McLennan led 36-35 early in the second. The Highlanders began to distance themselves from Ranger with an 8-0 run to extend the lead to nine, 44-35, with 16:45 to play. McLennan would continue to hold the lead midway through the period, 53-45, before Ranger slowly began to start a comeback. The Highlanders led 56-52 with eight minutes to go. The Rangers used an 11-0 run over to take control late in the half. Ranger led by 10, 69-59 with 3:50 on the clock. McLennan pulled within six several times late in the game but was unable to get any closer.
Akili Vining and Chris Pryor led the Highlanders with 16 points each, and Asare Otchere added 15.
