By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Raymond Stewart, McNeese Athletics
LAKE CHARLES – Trailing by double figures thanks in large part to self-inflicted mistakes, the Northwestern State men’s basketball team had every opportunity to fold in the second half of Saturday’s matchup with Southland Conference-leading McNeese.
Instead, the Demons gamely pushed back before a trio of pivotal Cowboys’ shots helped the hosts grab a 65-50 victory inside the Legacy Center.
“We were a little undisciplined in those times where it was a four- or five-point game,” second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “We allowed them to get corner 3s because of (defensive) hiccups. I’m proud of the guys, but you can’t win basketball games on the road when you have 21 turnovers. We had six in the second half – which isn’t bad, because you’re going to have turnovers. That’s part of the game, but 21 isn’t it.”
Unlike the Jan. 6 matchup between the teams in Natchitoches, the Cowboys (18-6, 12-1) did not set a season high in 3-pointers, but McNeese saved some of its biggest shots for the most important moments.
Northwestern (10-13, 7-6) shook off a miscue-filled first half in which the Demons committed 15 turnovers to twice cut the McNeese lead to either four or five in the final 10 minutes. Each time, the Cowboys responded.
Following a Justin Redmond floater that pulled the Demons within 45-41 at the 6:45 mark, Northwestern had a chance to make it a one-possession game.
Redmond, however, could not knock down a 3-pointer and Sincere Parker answered with a 3 for McNeese to re-establish a three-possession advantage.
A little more than 100 seconds later, DJ Richards’ corner 3 again stretched a two-possession advantage to three for the Cowboys.
“Those are things that we can’t have,” Cabrera said. “There was one where they shot it, and we didn’t box out and (Javohn) Garcia came and got a tip-in at a crucial time. We have to be more disciplined.”
Those pivotal McNeese shots undercut a second half where the Demons connected on 11 of 21 field goal attempts, a 52.4-percent clip. After scoring 15 points in the first half, Northwestern tallied 12 in the first 4:20 of the second period, starting a spate of mini runs that kept it within striking distance.
The second-half efficiency stood in stark contrast to the Demons’ mistake-filled first half.
The Demons committed 15 first-half turnovers – more giveaways than Northwestern suffered in 15 of its first 22 games of the season.
The game remained a 10-point gap at the half in large part because the Demons also proved effective at forcing turnovers. Northwestern turned the Cowboys over nine times in the first 20 minutes, nearly matching McNeese’s season average of 11.3 turnovers per game.
The Demons’ 15 turnovers matched their point total from the first half as Northwestern managed just three points off the nine Cowboy turnovers. Meanwhile, McNeese converted the 15 Demon miscues into 10 points.
“In the first half, our offense was horrible,” Cabrera said. “We shot 31 percent, but we held them to 32 percent in the first half and 38 for the game.”
Micah Thomas paced the Demons with 13 points while Addison Patterson had all 12 of his in the second half. Landyn Jumawan added 11 on 3-for-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Garcia led McNeese with a game-high 22 points while Parker added 15 off the bench.
The Demons return to action Monday when they travel to Nicholls. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. inside Stopher Gymnasium.
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