By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
BERKELEY, California – The Northwestern State men’s basketball team again enjoyed a strong start against a power-conference team Saturday afternoon.
The Demons, however, continue their search to put together two strong halves against such competition as Cal found its long-range aim in the final 20 minutes, delivering the Golden Bears an 84-67 victory at Haas Pavilion.
“(In the first half), we were guarding the ball, we were moving the ball, sharing it on the offensive end,” second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “I told our team, ‘To stay in this game, we have to defend.’ I’ve got to watch film, but I think we competed defensively. Our zone bothered them a little bit. We’ve got to do a better job of being tougher, being physical and protecting the drive.”
Northwestern (4-6) led for 11:37 in the first half, starting the game on a 5-0 run and built its largest lead of the game – a six-point advantage – on a Love Bettis three-point play with 9:05 to play in the first half.
Cal (7-4) awakened after Bettis’ bucket, putting together a 13-4 run across the next 4:05 to take a lead on Joshua Ola-Joseph’s 3-pointer at the 5-minute mark. Ola-Joseph’s 3 was one of just two made 3s in the opening half for the Golden Bears.
That changed precipitously in the second half as Cal, which entered the game averaging 8.2 3-pointers per game, found the range from deep and hit 10 of 16 second-half 3-pointers.
“They haven’t shot the ball well from 3 this year,” Cabrera said. “We contributed to some of it in the second half, but they also made some tough ones.”
Despite the 3-point barrage, the Demons continued to whittle away at the Cal lead, which grew to as much as 19 points with 10:37 to play thanks to a 12-3 run from the Golden Bears.
All 12 of the points in that game-turning run came from the combination of Jeremiah Wilkinson and Andrej Stojakovic, who combined for 49 points on the night. Stojakovic poured in a game-high 31 on 10-for-14 shooting, including a 4-for-6 performance from 3-point range.
“He’s a good player,” Cabrera said. “We just didn’t guard and keep the ball in front of us in the first half. We didn’t do a good enough job on him, and good players are going to take care of business when you don’t do a good enough job.”
Down by three at halftime, the Demons again started sluggishly in the second half as a Stojakovic 3-pointer gave the Golden Bears their first double-digit lead of the game with 17:06 to play.
Northwestern managed to cut the lead to 10 five times in the final 17-plus minutes, including with 1:41 to play on a Willie Williams three-point play. However, the Demons could never cut into the double-figure deficit.
“I’ve got to find a lineup that’s going to get us going in the second half,” Cabrera said. “If I have to change second-half lineups, I’ll do that. The group in the game (late) was competing to get it to a 10-point game with 1:40 to play, but it’s like that sometimes.”
Landyn Jumawan paced Northwestern with a career-high 15 points, matching his career best with four 3-pointers. Joining Jumawan in double figures were Bettis (12) and Jon Sanders II (10), who matched a career high with six assists.
The Demons return to action Friday when they host Southern-New Orleans in their final game before Christmas break. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. inside Prather Coliseum.