By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES – All the good things the Northwestern State men’s basketball team did during its recent three-game win streak were absent in the first half of Saturday afternoon’s Southland Conference Tournament championship game rematch with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The Demons’ sluggish start rendered a much improved second half a moot point as Northwestern State fell to the visiting Islanders, 79-68, in Prather Coliseum.
“We lost the game because of the first half,” first-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “Soft. Poor effort. I’m going to take the hit on that one. I tell them every day, ‘It’s not that we lose. It’s how we lose.’ In conference play, it’s not about moral victories. Well, you came back. No, especially at home in your comfort zone. Unacceptable to try to match their energy.
“Their energy was phenomenal. I give credit where credit is due. That’s a championship-caliber team over there.”
After three meetings a season ago in which the largest margin of victory was eight points, the Islanders (12-8, 5-2) led by that much for the majority of Saturday’s game thanks in large part to an early 9-0 run that erased Northwestern State’s lone lead of the game, which came on a Cliff Davis layup to put the Demons (5-15, 3-4) ahead 5-3.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi built its first double-digit lead with 11:19 to play in the first half on a Dian Wright-Forde free throw that was part of a 12-0 spurt across a 2:41 span of the first half.
The Islanders’ lead, which grew to 20 points with 7:11 remaining in the first half, never dipped to single digits until the Southland’s top 3-point shooter, Cliff Davis, sank his first 3 of the game with 6:53 to play as part of an 11-0 run that typified NSU’s in-game turnaround.
After allowing the Islanders to shoot 51.6 percent from the field in the first half, the Demons limited Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to 41.7 percent shooting in the second half. However, the Islanders started quickly from long distance and never cooled – turning in their most accurate 3-point shooting game of the season.
Led by former Demon Dayne Prim, who knocked down all three of his 3-pointers, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi sank 9 of 19 3-pointers, including four of eight in the second half.
Prim had 17 points to lead the Islanders, who entered the game averaging 5.5 made 3-pointers per game on 27.7 percent shooting.
“He’s practiced on these courts,” Cabrera said. “I told my staff, ‘I have an eerie feeling everything he throws up is going to go in.’ He’s a good player. He complements them well. He doesn’t start, but he’s a starter. We didn’t help him miss it. He was shooting wide-open 3s. The basketball gods rewarded him for returning home.”
After cutting the Corpus lead to six when Davis found a rolling Justin Wilson for a layup with 5:12 to play, the Islanders responded with six straight points to re-establish a 12-point lead with 2:24 to play.
NSU twice got back within eight points, but could not further cut into the lead.
Wilson led the short-handed Demons, who were without sophomore forward Jimel Lane, with 16 points while Chase Forte (12), Davis (10) and Braelon Bush (10) also reached double figures. Prim’s game-high 17 points came off the bench, part of the Islanders’ 43-11 edge in bench points.
Wilson shared the team lead with five rebounds as the Demons were outrebounded, 37-29, marking the first time since the conference opener against Lamar on Jan. 6 that NSU had not pulled down more or an equal number of rebounds that their opponent.
“Justin has been, since conference started, a completely different player,” Cabrera said. “I’m proud of that because he’s our leader. He leaves it out there on the court. I don’t think there’s a time he leaves this arena and says, ‘I did not leave it all out on the court.’ He makes mistakes like everybody else, but his effort and his togetherness covers it up so much.”
The Demons return to action Monday when they travel to McNeese to complete the season series with the conference-leading Cowboys. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside the Legacy Center.