By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Elayna Felder, East Texas A&M Athletics
COMMERCE, Texas – The offensive struggles that plagued the Northwestern State men’s basketball team on the first two games of its three-game Southland Conference road swing hit a nadir Saturday afternoon at East Texas A&M.
The Demons failed to discover any type of flow for much of the matchup with the Lions and watched the home team launch a long-range blitz that led to a 72-50 East Texas A&M victory inside The Field House.
“It’s a credit to them,” second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “They were the tougher of the two teams. They bothered us offensively. This is the most disappointed I’ve ever been in this team since our first game. I’m not happy about it. You’ll never see another team play like this again as long as I’m the coach here.”
The Demons (9-12, 6-5) were up 21-16 with 7:52 to play in the first half after a Willie Williams three-point play. An 11-2 push from the Lions (3-19, 1-10) erased that deficit and put the home team ahead to stay.
Northwestern did not score in the final 2:11 of the first half, missing eight of its last nine shots including the final six of the half.
During the game-turning run, East Texas hit four of its final eight shots of the half, setting up an even more efficient second half.
After halftime, the Lions hit 55.2 percent of their 29 field goal attempts, going 7-for-14 from 3-point range.
East Texas entered the game shooting 30 percent from long distance on the season. In grabbing their first conference victory, the Lions were 12-for-27 from the arc.
“They are a team that shoots 3s,” Cabrera said. “Over half their shots today were from 3. Our defensive assignments were bad. When we don’t score, our defense gets worse. That was a prime example and a reflection of me. I’ll take it. I’ll fix it.”
For the third straight game on its three-game road trip through Texas, Northwestern failed to crack the 60-point mark offensively.
The Demons shot 30.5 percent from the field. Northwestern was 15-for-43 from 2-point range, a 34.9-percent mark. Coupled with 18 turnovers and a minus-5 margin, the Demons rarely had any offensive continuity.
The Lions converted those 18 Demon miscues into 24 points.
Once Scooter Williams Jr.’s dunk with 13:46 to play gave the Lions a 10-point lead, the Demons never got closer than eight points the rest of the game and saw East Texas put the game away with a 12-0 run that pushed the lead to 24.
“I believe in my guys, but they have to make layups,” Cabrera said. “If they don’t make layups, then it’s going to be a long day for us no matter who we play.”
Williams led three Lions in double figures with a game-high 16 points while JT Warren matched his career high with 13 to pace Northwestern.
Jerald Colonel delivered his second straight 10-rebound game and added two blocks to his Southland-leading total. Colonel was one of three Demons who pulled down at least eight rebounds as Northwestern won the battle of the boards by 12.
The Demons return to action Monday when they host UTRGV. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. inside Prather Coliseum.