By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
BEAUMONT, Texas – The Northwestern State team second-year head coach Rick Cabrera saw the final 20 minutes inside the Neches Arena on Monday night did not look much like the one he saw in the first 20.
The Demons, after a strong first half defensively, could not muster the same in the second half as homestanding Lamar rallied for a 69-59 Southland Conference victory.
“We didn’t come out ready to go in the second half, and that’s disappointing,” Cabrera said. “Our guys were juiced up being up at half. We talked to them in the locker room, and I thought we’d have more pop, more effort defensively. They have some good players, and good players make good plays. They made some tough plays in that run, and it hurt us a little bit.”
The turning point came out of halftime break as the Cardinals (12-9, 7-3) opened on an 8-1 run that erased a five-point halftime lead for the Demons (9-11, 6-4).
That opening surge portended a much different last 20 minutes for both teams.
After outrebounding Lamar by eight in the first half, Northwestern saw the Cardinals flip the script and corral seven more rebounds in the second half. Nine of those came on the offensive end with the Cardinals converting them into 11 second-chance points.
Despite Lamar’s early second-half punch, the Demons answered to square things at 36 before an Adam Hamilton jumper ignited a 16-4 run that gave the Cardinals their largest lead of the game with 11:11 to play.
Helping the surge was a flagrant foul against Jon Sanders II that Lamar turned into a four-point possession on the first of consecutive Ja’Sean Jackson 3-pointers.
“On the road against a good team, your margin for error is so little,” Cabrera said. “They called it a (flagrant-)1, which I didn’t think it was. It changed a little momentum, but we still had chances.”
Freshman Justin Redmond helped keep those chances alive, pumping in a career-high 13 points, including a four-point play that sliced the Demon deficit to eight with 10:56 to play.
The Demons, however, could not find their offensive footing in the second half. Northwestern was 6-for-23 from the field in the second half and struggled from the free throw line.
Northwestern entered the game as the Southland’s top free-throw shooting team in league games at 77.1 percent. On the road Monday, the Demons were 14-for-26 from the stripe, a 53.8 percent mark.
“You can’t miss 12 free throws on the road,” Cabrera said. “You just can’t do it. I always appreciate my guys’ fight, but you can’t miss 12 free throws – and you can’t score 59 points – and expect to win on the road.”
Addison Patterson, who was named SLC Player of the Week earlier Monday, led the Demons with 14 points while Hamilton’s 13-point, 14-rebound double-double put Lamar in position to win their third straight game in the series.
The Demons return to action Saturday when they conclude their three-game Southland road swing at East Texas A&M. Tipoff is set for 2:15 p.m. inside The Field House.