Rangers remain atop NTJCAC race

The Southwestern Christian Rams found out plenty about math on Wednesday night. It was a lesson they probably didn't enjoy too much.

Ranger College, which climbed to No. 5 in the latest NJCAA poll a day earlier, garnered double-digit efforts from five players and rolled to an easy 115-65 victory in front of a loud crowd in the Ron Butler Gymnasium.

How easy? The Rangers outscored the Rams by 27 points in the first half. Once warmed up, they dropped 65 in the final 20 minutes of play.

With the victory, Ranger moved to 23-2 for the season and, more importantly, improved to 9-1 in Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference play. The win enabled RC to hold on to a one-game lead over Temple College in the NTJCAC standings.

Jonathan Jackson and Brayan Au, along with sophomore Jaren English, helped RC get off to a quick start against the Rams. Ranger College outscored SWCC by a 14-2 clip in the first five minutes of play and then sprinted to a commanding 50-23 halftime lead.

RC shifted its offense into high gear in the second half. The Rangers rode sold second-half efforts from Jackson, Braden Bell and Heritier Ngalamulume to a 65-42 run in the final frame.

Au closed out the game as Ranger's top scorer by tossing in 18 points, 12 via four three-point shots. Eleven of Au's total points came in the Rangers first-half run.

English, who knocked down six free throws in the opening half to go with a long-range trey, and Bell pumped in 16 and 15 points, respectively, while Jackson and Ngalamulume contributed 14 and 11.

In all, Bell, Jackson and Ngalamulume combine for 30 of Ranger's second-half points.

As a team, RC buried 12 three-point shots in the contest, including two apiece by Brian Rios, Damon Wall, English and Caleb Asberry.

Ranger will face off against Hill College on Saturday in Hillsboro.