By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Sevices
NATCHITOCHES – The end result was not what the Northwestern State men’s basketball team wanted Monday night, but the effort first-year head coach Rick Cabrera asked for was.
Missing a pair of rotation players, the short-handed Demons stood toe-to-toe with streaking McNeese for most of the Demons’ Southland Conference home opener before falling 68-59 inside Prather Coliseum.
“We are never pleased with losing,” Cabrera said. “On a positive side, I’m extremely proud of these young men. All we ask is they play hard for 40 minutes. There are going to be mistakes. Both teams made mistakes. Today, this was a team I saw that showed us the potential we can get to. Disappointed in the loss, but our time is going to come.”
Coming off a 20-point loss at Lamar, Northwestern State (2-13, 0-2) was in lock step for most of the night with the Cowboys (13-2, 2-0), who won their eighth straight game.
The Demons did it primarily with defense, limiting McNeese to 40 percent shooting – nearly 10 percent below the Cowboys’ season average. The 68 points allowed were the fewest given up by Northwestern State against a Division I opponent this season.
NSU needed that type of defensive performance against a McNeese squad that entered Monday’s game ranked third nationally in field goal percentage defense (37 percent).
Both defenses dominated the first half as neither team cracked the 40-percent mark from the field. After not hitting a field goal for the first 4:54, the Demons put together a 9-0 run across a 4:32 stretch of the first half to take a four-point lead on a Jimel Lane dunk. That four-point lead, which came at the 12:56 mark of the first half, marked the last time the game would be played in more than a one-possession window until DJ Richards’ corner 3-pointer 2 seconds before halftime gave the Cowboys a five-point lead.
“Just being tough – we didn’t go out there worrying about making shots or trying to win,” said senior forward Justin Wilson, who finished with 10 points and a team-leading seven rebounds. “The focus was being tougher than the other team, and that’s what we’re going to continue to focus on.”
The Demons’ improved focus and toughness was undone by 13 first-half turnovers that McNeese converted into 17 points.
While Northwestern State limited their miscues in the second half – committing just six turnovers – McNeese held a 17-point advantage in points off turnovers.
Both teams awakened offensively early in the second half as the Cowboys built an eight-point lead on an Antavion Collum 3-pointer 21 seconds into the half. However, the Demons responded.
Cliff Davis, the Southland’s top 3-point shooter in makes, attempts and percentage, hit his fourth 3 of the game to answer Collum – a sign the Demons were not going away. McNeese built the lead back to eight three more times before Northwestern State made its biggest run of the second half.
Down eight after a Javohn Garcia 3-pointer, the Demons got a 3-pointer from freshman Chris Mubiru to start a 9-4 run that cut the lead to three with 12:05 to play. Following a missed 3-pointer from Braelon Bush, Shahada Wells knocked down a corner 3 to double McNeese’s lead and give the Cowboys a two-possession lead they never relinquished in the final 10:59 of play.
“I tell them, ‘Defensively, you have to play in fear. Offensively, you play relaxed,’” Cabrera said. “This is a team that shoots 49 percent from the field on the season, and we held them to 40 percent. They guard really well, too. If we play this way, we’ll be fine.”
Davis led Northwestern State with 17 points, shooting 5 for 10 from 3-point range, while Bush added all 11 of his points in the second half.
Wells paced three Cowboys in double figures with 18 points while Collum (12) and Garcia (11) combined for 23 points.
The Demons return to action Saturday when they host UIW at 3 p.m. in the second game of a Southland Conference doubleheader and the second of a season-long, three-game homestand.