Ricks leads balanced Abilene Christian 69-58 in Southland

Jan 13, 2018, 11:46 pm

NATICHITOCHES, La. -- Payten Ricks scored 15 points to lead five into double figures as Abilene Christian rode a big second half to a 69-58 defeat of Northwestern State on Saturday.

Trailing 30-28 at halftime, Abilene Christian (12-7, 4-2 Southland) went off for 41 points on 12-for-22 shooting, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range in the second half. Ricks drained back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Wildcats a 41-36 lead with 16:20 remaining. Northwestern State was unable to take back the lead and went 0-for-7 from distance in the second half.

After Ricks, Jaylen Franklin scored 13 points, Jalone Friday 12 and Jaren Lewis 11 in the balanced Abilene Christian offense. On defense, the Wildcats had nine steals and took advantage of 21 Northwestern State turnovers to score 27 points.

Northwestern State's Ishmael Lane scored 22 points and pulled down a career-best 17 rebounds, most by any player in a Southland Conference game so far this year. Iziahiah Sweeney added 11 points.