ADA – The East Central University men's basketball team sent its six seniors out in style at the Kerr Activities Center, with an 81-62 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State.  The win and a loss by Ouachita Baptist, moved the Tigers (20-6, 16-4 GAC) into a solo possession of first in the Great American Conference standings.

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ECU was paced by junior Ishmael Donzo, who tallied his sixth double-double of the year, recording career highs of 22 points and 17 rebounds.  Senior Stirling Thomas added 19 points, while junior Aly Hudgins netted 12.

The Tigers opened the game on a 15-1 run before the Rangers (9-15, 9-11 GAC) were allowed to record a field goal, almost six minutes into the game.  ECU pushed the lead out to 15 (24-9), with 11 minutes left in the first half, before NWOSU made a small push.  The Rangers were able to cut the lead to eight (28-16) over the next four minutes.  In the final four minutes of the half, the Tigers used an 8-1 run to propel the lead back out to 47-30.

The second half saw the lead pushed out to 20 in the first three minutes and increased to as many as 27 (63-36) in the first eight minutes.  The Rangers kept fighting and were able to cut the deficit to 18 (74-57), with 2:40 left to play, but ECU didn't let up and ended up earning the 81-62 victory.

The Tigers had a strong day shooting, making 53.7 percent (29-of-54) of their overall shots and holding NWOSU to a 34.9 percentage (22-of-63).

Before the start of the game, ECU honored six seniors that have helped turn around the Tigers in the past few seasons.  Five of the seniors saw action in the game, while the sixth was coaching from the bench.  ECU honors seniors Nick Anderson, Jared Griffin, Deron Hill, Jefferson Ocoro, Dalen Qualls and Stirling Thomas.

The Tigers will now get ready to hit the road for the final two games of the 2015-16 regular season.  ECU will face Harding, Thursday, Feb. 25 (7:30 p.m.) and Arkansas Tech, Feb. 27 (3 p.m.) before heading to the GAC Tournament.