Ranger claims NTJCAC title with wild win

Ranger College is back on top of the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference mountain.

Ranger secured its second NTJCAC title in the past three years by grinding out an 83-82 come-from-behind victory over Temple College on Wednesday in Temple. The Rangers secured the victory thanks to a 43-36 run in the second half of play.

The win didn't come without a few nerves, however. Temple College's Kedrian Johnson's last-second three-point attempt bounced off the rim at the final buzzer.

Ranked No. 4 in the latest NJCAA Division I rankings, Ranger flexed its muscle down the stretch against the Leopards. Trailing by six at the half, Jonathan Jackson and Coryon Mason helped ignite the RC offense in the second half. Both pumped in clutch shots down the stretch to spearhead Ranger's second-half comeback.

Ranger, now 26-2 overall, roared back to take an 83-81 lead with 8.5 seconds left.

Johnson had a chance to tie the game from there. He hit the back end of a one-and-one situation and pulled Temple to within one before Ranger slammed the door shut.

Jackson, who earned the conference's Player of the Week honors earlier in the week, starred inside for RC. He poured in a team-high 18 points while grabbing eight rebounds.

Mason and Brayan Au also played well for RC. Both netted 14 points, while sophomore Jaren English added 13 points and eight boards.

Caleb Asberry narrowly missed a double-double in the win, scoring nine points while nabbing eight rebounds.

Ranger, now 12-1 in conference play and assured of receiving the NTJCAC's No. 1 seed in the upcoming Region V tournament, will close out the regular season on Feb. 27 against Grayson.