The 17th-ranked McLennan Highlanders hosted a make-up game with the Ranger Rangers following the women's action with Ranger squeaking out the 82-79 victory.
Rayquan Brown began the scoring for McLennan less than 20 seconds into the contest but Ranger's Trey Tennyson quickly responded with a layup at the other end. Tennyson scored the Rangers' first 13 points. Ranger controlled the tempo early on, building an 11-point lead at 20-9 with 13:12 to play in the first half. Four points from Chris Pryor started the Highlander spark and ignited an 8-0 run to pull the Highlanders within three midway through the half, 20-17. Ranger responded with an 8-0 run to begin pulling away and led by 14, 33-19, with six minutes remaining in the first half. Kirk Smith Jr, Diego Gonzalez and Nehemiah Nuckolls combined for a 6-0 run to pull McLennan within seven, 33-26. The Highlander continued to chip away and a Nuckolls dunk cut the lead to three 37-34 with a minute to go. Ranger would lead by four at the break, 39-35.
Ranger extended the lead to 10 early in the half but the Highlanders weren't going down easy. Pryor and Dillon Gooding guided the McLennan comeback and a pair of Asare Otchere free throws tied the game at 48 with 14:34 to play. Ranger once again responded with a run, this one of the 8-2 variety to lead by six 56-50 midway through the half. The Rangers continued to lead by six, 65-59 with six minutes to play. The Highlanders began to rally and tied the game at 65 on a Gonzalez 3-pointer with 5:11 on the clock. The two teams traded baskets and McLennan took a two-point lead at 71-69 on another Pryor bucket with 2:36 remaining. A bucket and one for Rangers' Reece Efole gave them the one-point advantage. Gooding nailed a pair of free throws to put McLennan big on top but Ranger ended the game on a 10-6 run including eight for eight from the free throw line to steal the win.
Pryor led McLennan with 17 points and Gonzalez chipped in 15. Gooding and Smith Jr. scored 13 and 12, respectively.
Ranger 82, McLennan 79
Ranger: Trey Tennyson 10 3-4 27; Starlin Hamilton 0 0-0 0; Jordan Hayes 0 0-0 0; Tiras Morton 3 6-6 15; Adel Meleek 0 0-0 0; Jonathan McGhee 0 1-2 1; Reece Efole 3 2-3 8; Nika Metskhvarishvili 3 3-4 11; Jorell Saterfield 7 3-6 17; Mark Mayle 0 0-0 0; Keisei Tominaga 1 0-0 3; Totals: 27 18-25 82.
McLennan: Dillon Gooding 3 4-4 13; Amani Harris 0 0-0 0; Maurice Harvey 1 2-3 4; Nehemiah Nuckolls 4 1-2 9; Chris Pryor 5 7-9 27; Rayquan Brown 2 0-0 4; Diego Gonzalez 5 3-5 15; Asare Otchere 1 3-4 5; Kirk Smith Jr. 3 6-9 12; Totals: 24 26-36 79.
3-pointers: Ranger 10 (Tennyson 4, Morton 3, Metskhvarishvili 2), McLennan 5 (Gooding 3, Gonzalez 2); Total fouls: Ranger 27, McLennan 21; Fouled out: Ranger (Metskhvarishvili, Efole); Halftime score: Ranger 39, McLennan 35; Record: McLennan 10-1 (4-1).
