By Zach Freihofer, Northwestern State Graduate Assistant; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES – The last five minutes are what really matters anyway.
The Northwestern State Demons put together a stunning rally in the final minutes against Houston Christian, flipping the switch on the Huskies to grab a 61-56 Southland Conference victory on Mike McConathy Court at Prather Coliseum.
“The first 35 minutes, it was not Demon basketball,” second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “They found a way to put the orange ball in the orange rim. Coaches get a lot of credit, but I don’t want any — I don’t deserve any — but at the end of the day they got to execute it and that comes with having good players.”
While the first 35 minutes were not Demon basketball in Cabrera’s eyes, the final five incorporated his team’s staple – its defense – with an offense that arrived just in time.
A 13-0 run in the final four minutes, part of a larger 17-4 game-ending surge, was predicated on defense and a finishing kick from Jon Sanders II.
Sanders scored all 10 of his points in the second half, including a 3-pointer that gave the Demons their first lead of the game at 56-54.
Included in his strong finish to the game were a pair of free throws with 5.6 seconds to play that put the Demons up 59-56. Those freebies came after Northwestern survived fouling D’Andre Samuels on a 3-pointer with the Demons up three.
Samuels hit the first two free throws before missing the last.
“It’s all about staying ready,” Sanders says. “We have 12 guys who can play a big role at any time, so it’s up to all of us to stay ready when our numbers are called.”
Sanders added two more free throws to complete the final score.
Patterson built off a strong finish to the first half to launch into a scintillating second half where he went head-to-head with HCU’s Bryson Dawkins, the league’s leading scorer in conference play entering Saturday’s game.
Patterson and Dawkins each had double-figure performances in the second half with Patterson scoring 17 of his game-high 26 after halftime while Dawkins had 14 of his team-leading 18 in the final 20 minutes.
“Coming into the game, I know what I can do,” says Patterson. “I try to get my teammates going so we are all on the same page. We didn’t start the best, but by the end of the game, everyone was warm.”
Sanders’ late heroics and Patterson’s brilliance helped the Demons collect their third straight win – Northwestern’s first three-game win streak of the season.
It followed what has become a pattern for the Demons in recent wins – playing better in the second half than in the first.
In the past month, the Demons have relied on strong second halves to take down Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana on the road and HCU at home to propel themselves into a tie for fifth place in the Southland standings.
With Southeastern’s loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, the Demons and Islanders are one game behind the Lions for fourth place and a bye in the league tournament with one game to play.
“I wish I could give you a recipe for what just happened,” Cabrera says. “We just have good players, and they didn’t give up. This could’ve been a double-digit loss for us, but they didn’t give up.”
The Demons cap the regular season by hosting UIW on Monday. Tipoff is set for 6:30 on Senior Day as Northwestern honors JT Warren.