By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Jailen Leach, Nicholls Athletics
THIBODAUX – Nine days after one of its most disappointing performances of the season, the Northwestern State men’s basketball team redeemed itself in a major way Monday night.
The Demons went into what lately has been a house of horrors for them and walked out with a pivotal 72-60 victory against homestanding Nicholls inside Stopher Gymnasium.
“We were zombies for about the first 15 minutes,” second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “I get on them pretty tough in the timeouts, especially when we’re not defending. They just decided to guard. We told them, ‘This has to stop. You guys are better than this.’ All credit goes to those guys. They got going and didn’t stop until the horn at the end of the game.”
Down by as many as 12 in the first half, the Demons (11-13, 8-6) turned in a dominant second half to complete its first season sweep of the Colonels (15-10, 9-5) since the 2016-17 season.
Northwestern blitzed the Colonels with a streak of seven made field goals to open the half to erase a six-point halftime deficit. Once Micah Thomas sank the second of consecutive 3-pointers to give the Demons a 44-36 lead, Northwestern was off and running.
While the Demons sizzled to start the second half, the genesis of the game-turning run came in the final 4:14 of the first half. With the Demons down 11, Landyn Jumawan’s 3-pointer began a 7-2 run to close the first half and wrest momentum from the homestanding Colonels, who had won six of the past seven meetings between the teams in Thibodaux.
As the Northwestern offense began to hum, so did its defense and blue-collar mentality.
After being outrebounded by seven in the first half, Northwestern attacked the boards on both ends and wound up with a plus-3 advantage on the glass. Included in that total were seven second-half offensive rebounds.
Willie Williams led the effort with a game-high 10 rebounds – his seventh double-figure rebounding game of the season. Williams added nine points as all five Demon starters scored at least nine.
“Willie’s the anchor of our team,” Cabrera said. “He’s a phenomenal rebounder. Sometimes he’s a little too unselfish offensively. We want him to be a little more selfish at times. I’m so happy he’s having success playing for the Demons.”
The Demons understandably cooled after their seven-shot barrage to start the second half, but their defense never ceased.
Northwestern held Nicholls to 25 percent shooting (8-for-32) in the second half. The Colonels hit 4 of 10 3-pointers in the second half while shooting just 4-for-22 from inside the arc as Williams (career-high three blocks), Jerald Colonel and the rest of the Demons made life tough on the Nicholls offense.
The Demons took their first double-figure lead of the game on a pair of Addison Patterson free throws with 9:20 to play, highlighting a four-minute stretch in which Northwestern held Nicholls scoreless.
The Colonels cut the lead to eight at the six-minute mark before Love Bettis delivered a three-point play off a mid-range jumper to re-establish an 11-point Northwestern edge with 4:45 to play. The lead never dipped below nine points the rest of the way.
Bettis finished with 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and a 6-for-7 night at the line. Bettis and Addison Patterson combined to hit 17 of 19 free throws in the game while Northwestern went 19-for-21 at the stripe in the second half.
“Love is a machine,” Cabrera said. “He’s our best both sides of the ball player. He drives me a little crazy with some of the turnovers, but he makes up for it in different ways. He guards one on one. He gets to his spots. He’s a mid-range guy. He loves those. Sometimes, with a player like him, you have to let him play and not control him.”
In addition to Bettis’ career scoring high, Thomas added 14 in his return to Nicholls while Patterson chipped in 13. Michael Gray Jr. led Nicholls with a game-high 19 points off the bench, but it took him 17 shots to reach that total.
The Demons return to action Saturday when they host Stephen F. Austin. Saturday’s game tips off at 3:30 p.m. and will feature the dedication of Mike McConathy Court at halftime.