Rangers move to 3-0 in NTJCAC play with win over Rams

The Ranger College men's basketball team went into Wednesday's NTJCAC showdown with the Southwestern Christian College Rams as the No. 1-ranked team in the country. And when the smoke cleared from the Ron Butler Gymnasium nothing had changed.

The Rangers, en route to having five players reach double figures in scoring, improved to 18-1 overall with a dominating 97-66 romp over Southwestern Christian.

"We came out and did what we had to do," said RC sophomore Brayan Au. "We worked hard in practice and then came out and played the way we do."

What the Rangers did was own the Rams in the second half. Ranger outscored Southwestern Christian by a 55-35 clip in the final 20 minutes of regulation. In all, seven of the 12 Rangers that got into the game pushed home points in the decisive run.

Au and Keisei Tominaga powered the Rangers' offensive fireworks. Both finished the game with more than 20 points. More impressively, the pair combined to knock down 10 of RC's 13 three-point shots.

The 31-point margin of victory marked the eighth time this season the Rangers have won a game by 20 or more points.

Southwestern Christian, now 0-3 in conference play, stayed close early. The Rams scored 31 points in the first half and trailed by only 11 at the break, at 42-31.

Au finished as RC's top scorer, netting 24 points while dishing out a game-high five assists. Tominaga chipped 22, including 18 via six treys.

Jorell Saterfield and Montre Gipson also starred in the return of Billy Gillispie to the coaching seat. Saterfield pushed home 18 points, while Gipson added 15. C.J. Roberts also hit double figures with 12.

The Rangers will return to action on Saturday with a trip to Hillsboro to face off with rival Hill College. The game will tip-off at 4 p.m.