Rangers knock off No. 7 Odessa

MIDLAND, Texas – The Ranger College men's basketball claimed its biggest victory of the young 2018-19 season on Friday afternoon in front of a large crowd in the Chaparral Center at Midland College by rallying for an 88-82 victory over nationally-ranked Odessa College.

Odessa had rolled into the showdown ranked seventh in the NJCAA preseason Division I rankings.

Ranger College, now 4-0 and ranked 25th, used a strong second-half push to run down the Wranglers, who had knocked down a shot late in the first half to claim a slim 39-37 lead at the half. As a team, Ranger outscored Odessa by a 51-43 margin in the final 20 minutes of play.

Offensively, the Rangers benefitted from solid performances from Braden Bell and Jonathan Jackson. Bell hit on 10 of his 14 shots from the field and finished with a team-high 23 points. Jackson, who went 7-for-11 from the field and hit on all five of his opportunities at the free throw line, added 19.

Coryon Mason and sophomore Keyshaad Dixon also came up big for RC. Mason scored 16 points in the game, while Dixon tossed in five points and a team-high seven assists.

Jaren English was the fourth Ranger College scorer to reach double figures, netting 10.