The Northwestern State Demons, who feature two former Bossier standouts, are among six teams competing in the Holiday Classic College Basketball event Saturday at the Centenary Gold Dome.
The Demons face LSUS in the final game at 5 p.m.
The event starts a 1 with a women’s game between Centenary College and Millsaps. The schools’ men’s teams face off at 3 p.m.
NSU improved to 3-5 with an 88-58 victory over Louisiana College on Saturday in the NSU Cenla Showdown in Alexandria.
Former Bossier star Jalan West scored 14 points and had nine assists.
A seventh-year senior guard, West is seeing his first action since the 2014-15 season. He missed the last two with knee injuries.
“Nine assists, no turnovers. Jalan is finding himself again,” NSU head coach Mike McConathy said. “It’s a growth process for him, as he comes back, and I’m proud of him for being patient. That’s the hardest thing for anyone, to be patient and not do too much too soon. He made some great passes today, and he continues to shoot extremely well from distance.”
West, who led Bossier to the 2011 Class 4A state championship, is averaging 11.4 points and 4.6 assists. He also has eight steals.
Senior guard Devonte Hall, another former Bossier standout, had five points and four assists in 19 minutes against Louisiana College.
He is averaging 5.8 points and 2.3 assists.
LSUS, ranked No. 2 in the NAIA Division I Coaches’ Top 25, is 11-1. The Pilots have five players scoring in double figures — Stevie Clark (19.1 ppg), Benjamin Batts (17.6), D.J. Clayton (16.2), Rakim Lubin (15.8) and Jamal Ray (13.5).
Ray, a 6-foot-4 guard from Texarakana, Texas, leads the team in rebounding at 10.9 per game.
The Centenary men are 5-3. Freshman K.J. Bilbo, a former Airline star who was the MVP on the All-Parish team last season, is on the Gents’ roster.
Millsaps is 2-5.
The Centenary women are 1-6, and the Millsaps women 3-3.
— Staff Reports, newsroom@bossierpress.com
— Featured photo courtesy Northwestern State Sports Information
