No.1-ranked Rangers upend McLennan

Braden Bell scored 21 points and Coryon Mason added 14 more on Wednesday (Jan. 9) and powered the No.1-ranked Ranger College men's basketball team to a convincing 69-60 victory over the McLennan Community College Highlanders in Waco.

With the win, Ranger ran its season to 14-2 and, more importantly, moved to 1-1 in Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference play. McLennan, a perennial NTJCAC power, dipped to 14-4 overall.

The Highlanders kept the game close early on. McLennan eked out 30 first-half points and pulled to within two, at 32-30, at the half with a late run.

Ranger, which moved into the No. 1 spot on the www.masseyratings.com's Division I poll earlier in the week, took over from there. The Rangers, who shot almost 50 percent from the floor, put the game away with a 37-point outburst in the final 20 minutes.

Bell provided RC with the bulk of its offensive firepower with one of his better games of the season. He knocked down 11 of his 17 shots – including going 2-for-3 from three-point range. He also collected 10 rebounds.

Caleb Asberry, Jonathan Jackson and Jaren English also turned in solid outings. Asberry netted nine points and dished out a team-high four assists. Jackson scored seven points, while English grabbed eight boards and registered the team's lone blocked shot.