By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES – The players and the stakes had changed, but for the Northwestern State men’s basketball team Monday night’s meeting with McNeese inside Prather Coliseum was a bit of déjà vu.
For the second time in three seasons, the Cowboys rode a brilliant shooting night from the 3-point line to hand the Demons a Southland Conference defeat. This time, McNeese sank 16 long-range buckets en route to a 92-69 victory that snapped Northwestern’s three-game Southland-opening win streak.
“Every once in a while in your life, you’re going to get a slice of humble pie,” second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “In a situation like that, you have to eat that pie. We ate it tonight. All credit to McNeese. They shot the ball like I never thought they would. A lot of that was on us not being aware or locked in, which I’m very disappointed about. Credit to them. They’re the champs until somebody knocks them out.”
Two seasons ago in a win in Lake Charles, McNeese hit 15 3-pointers against the Demons. The Cowboys (10-5, 4-0) wasted no time Monday night unleashing their long-range barrage.
DJ Richards’ 3-pointer 63 seconds into the game sent McNeese – and himself – off and running. Richards connected on all six of his first-half 3-pointers and scored 19 of his 20 points in the first half.
Two of Richards’ 3-pointers came during a momentum-shifting 15-0 run for the Cowboys across nearly four minutes of the first half that gave McNeese the lead for good.
Ahead of that run, the Demons (6-8, 3-1) had taken the second of their two leads – both delivered by JT Warren – to erase a trio of early five-point McNeese leads.
Addison Patterson fueled Northwestern in the first half, scoring all 11 of his points in the opening 20 minutes.
“Addison has been under the weather, but he kept us in the game in the first half,” Cabrera said. “They did a good job in the second half, holding him scoreless. If we don’t fix our defense, we’re not going to win a lot of games.”
McNeese shot 9 for 16 from 3-point range in the first half and 53.6 percent overall from the floor. The Cowboys boosted those numbers to 7-for-12 and 55.2 percent, respectively, in the second half.
Richards did not hit a field goal in the final 20 minutes, but Sincere Parker took over where Richards left off. Parker sank 5 of 6 3-pointers in the second half.
While McNeese continued to shoot efficiently in the second stanza, the Demons could not unlock their offense until the lead ballooned to a game-high 31 points at the 10:49 mark of the second half.
With his team down 31, freshman Justin Redmond sank the Demons’ first shot of the second half – a 3-pointer with 10:36 to play in the game. Redmond hit a trio of 3-pointers, including one off a Patterson feed that cut the McNeese lead to eight with 59 seconds to play in the first half before Richards answered with his sixth and final 3 of the half.
“Justin has taken some guys’ minutes,” Cabrera said. “He’s been a good player. He’s been consistent all year. I didn’t play him against Nicholls and I can’t tell you why. I wasn’t comfortable. He deserved to play today. He held his own against a really good team with a lot of older guys. His future’s bright. I expect as long as he’s healthy to see him in the rotation a lot more.”
Micah Thomas led Northwestern State with 14 points while Jon Sanders II added 11. Junior forward Jerald Colonel established a career high with seven blocks, the most for a Demon since Ishmael Lane rejected eight shots against New Orleans on Feb. 6, 2019.
Richards (20) and Parker (18) paced six McNeese players in double figures as the Cowboys won their 15th straight SLC regular-season game.
The Demons return to action Saturday when they close out a three-game homestand by hosting East Texas A&M. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. inside Prather Coliseum.