By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES – On a day where the Prather Coliseum court officially was dedicated as Mike McConathy Court, a Southland Conference men’s basketball game between Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State came down the final seconds.
The homestanding Demons had three chances to tie the game in the final 4 seconds but could not find the equalizer as the Lumberjacks held on for a 70-68 victory.
“The first half, we got ourselves in a hole, but when you come back and get the lead – it was 61-57 and they went on an 8-0 run – that’s where we lost it,” Cabrera said. “I’ll have to go back and watch the film and figure out what we need to do and get better. I’m proud we fought and came back, but we took some very undisciplined shots and made some very undisciplined decisions late. We still had chances. Sometimes you play really bad – and I think we played bad – and you still have chances to win the game or extend the game. We had chances. It just didn’t fall our way.”
Down six with 1:47 to play, the Demons (11-14, 8-7) turned to their defense to hold SFA (13-13, 6-9) scoreless for the remainder of the game and keep their comeback hopes alive.
Addison Patterson sliced the deficit in half with a 3-pointer at the 44-second mark before Chrishawn Christmas missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Patterson was fouled on a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and cleanly swished the first free throw before the second rattled out after being halfway down.
Patterson snared his intentional miss of the third free throw and had his game-tying layup attempt blocked out of bounds, allowing the Demons to retain possession.
Patterson hit a cutting Willie Williams on the inbounds pass, but Williams’ contested layup did not fall, allowing the Lumberjacks to escape with a split of the season series after Northwestern outlasted SFA, 57-54, in overtime in Nacogdoches, Texas, on Jan. 25.
“I wouldn’t want any other guy on the line other than him,” Cabrera said. “I trust him. He didn’t make it, and that’s part of it. We still figured out a way to get an extra possession. We had a chance to tie it up with a layup, but a lot of credit goes to (SFA interim head coach) Tony Jasick and his team.”
The Lumberjacks built a nine-point halftime advantage methodically and pushed it to an 11-point edge with 18:29 to play before the Demons began to slow the visitors.
After SFA knocked down six of 13 first-half 3-pointers, Northwestern limited it to a 1-for-10 mark in the second half. The Lumberjacks missed their final nine long-range shots on the game.
That cold snap allowed the Demons to push their way back into the game and take a four-point lead – their largest of the game – with 7:32 to play on a Love Bettis floater.
SFA had a final answer, using an 8-0 surge across the next three-plus minutes to build a big enough to lead to maintain throughout the final 4:14 and survive the Demons’ wild final possession.
The Demons won the turnover battle by two (11-9), but had only a one-point edge in points off miscues (15-14) as both teams were efficient in that category.
“Turnovers were low, but ours were crucial at bad times,” Cabrera said. “Two careless turnovers led to dunks for their point guard. It’s uncharacteristic of us. It’s something we practice. I’ll take the blame for that. I’ll never put anything on my players. My guys work too hard for that.”
Patterson led Northwestern with a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double while Matt Hayman’s game-high 25 points – 16 of which came in the first half – paced SFA.
The Demons return to action Monday when they host Lamar. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on Mike McConathy Court at Prather Coliseum.