ALVA, Okla. - The Ouachita Tigers scored 52 points and shot 63 percent from the floor in the second half en route to an 87-73 road win over Northwestern Oklahoma State. Justin McCleary scored a career and game-high 29 points to lead the Tigers. Tirrell Brown added 18 and pulled down 11 rebounds. Ouachita improves to 3-2 in the Great American Conference.

Despite shooting only 31 percent in the first half, the Tigers found themselves only trailing by one at halftime, 36-35. Shooting guard Justin McCleary kept the Tigers close, scoring 20 first-half points and knocking down 50 percent of his three point attempts. Tirrell Brown and Aitor Lopez-Breton led the Tigers with seven first-half rebounds each.

With just under 16 minutes remaining in the second half, the Tigers trailed the Rangers by three, 46-43. A layup by Carven Holcombe on the Tigers next possession ignited a 13-0 run for Ouachita. The run put the Tigers up by 10 points with just under 11 minutes remaining in the game.

Northwestern Oklahoma State chipped away to cut the Ouachita lead back down to four points, trailing the Tigers 75-71 with two minutes left to play. Back-to-back buckets by Tirrell Brown, who scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, kicked off another large run by the Tigers and extended the lead to 14. Clutch free throws late by Jordan Corbitt and a conventional three-point play by Lakee Westbrook put the game away for the Tigers.

Guard Mahlon Martin scored all 10 of his points off the bench in the second half. In just his second start of the season, Carven Holcombe scored seven points and pulled down eight rebounds.

The Tigers will face Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford, Oklahoma on Saturday, January 9. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m.