By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Ashley Ankara’s, UIW Athletics
SAN ANTONIO – The Northwestern State men’s basketball team needed all 40 minutes of Thursday night to produce a positive start in Southland Conference play.
After a strong first-half performance built a double-digit halftime lead, the Demons held firm down the stretch and escaped the McDermott Convocation Center with a 72-70 victory against homestanding UIW in the conference opener for both teams.
The Demons’ win marked their first in a conference opener since the 2014-15 season when Northwestern defeated Houston Christian to start league play.
“Our guys played so unselfishly,” second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “In the first half, we scored mostly off of our defense. We guarded really well. When you score off your defense, you typically have open shots. Landyn (Jumawan) made those open shots and guys looked for him. We played unselfish basketball. As long as play that way and get defensive stops, we’ll score.”
Surviving a last-second heave was not on the Demons’ mind after they crafted as much as an 18-point lead in the first half.
Northwestern (3-5, 1-0) used a brilliant shooting performance from Landyn Jumawan, who was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, including four 3-pointers, to race out to an 18-point lead with 41 seconds remaining in the first half.
That’s when the Cardinals (4-4, 0-1) began their comeback in earnest.
A 5-0 finish to the first half ballooned to a 17-2 surge that JT Warren halted with a short hook shot at the 15:34 mark.
The Cardinals continued to press the issue offensively, hitting 8 of 14 second-half 3-pointers, led by Davion Bailey’s 5-for-8 performance from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes. Bailey connected on four of those 3-pointers in a 3:09 stretch that concluded with a go-ahead 3 to give UIW its lone lead of the night at 70-69 with 2:01 to play.
“It’s a good feeling being up 13 (at halftime), but the mental approach has to be to gear up and be even more locked in,” Cabrera said. “I knew they would make a run to some extent, but I didn’t know it would be that kind of run. Bailey couldn’t miss a 3, but we didn’t let that bother us. I’m so proud of these young men for holding on. Being in those situations (earlier in the season) helped us get through this one.”
The Demons, however, had their own answer to Bailey’s sizzling second half.
While Bailey was single-handedly keeping UIW alive, junior guard Love Bettis answered the challenge for the Demons.
Three times in a 1:41 stretch, Bettis answered a Bailey 3-pointer with a basket, including a long jumper off a Jon Sanders II assist that gave the Demons the lead for good with 1:43 to play.
“Love has been a clutch shot maker all his life,” Cabrera said. “He’s the Big Shot Bob of our team so far. He plays with elite confidence and elite defensive ability. I’m so proud to see him have success. He is one of the greatest young men I’ve ever coached. He never gets mad or gets rattled. He just moves on to the next play.”
After a first half in which the Demons forced 10 turnovers, they had two of their better defensive possessions of the final 20 minutes when the stakes were the highest.
Following Jerald Colonel’s fourth block of the game, UIW had a chance to take the lead when a Bailey 3-pointer rattled out. Willie Williams cleared the defensive rebound, forcing UIW to foul.
Micah Thomas split a pair of one-and-one free throws, but Jumawan alertly pressured Jordan Pyke on the rebound, keeping UIW from establishing any momentum and leading Dylan Hayman to force up a half-court prayer that was well off the mark.
“That’s something we work on,” Cabrera said. “Landyn is such a great IQ kid and a great listener. You have to jam the guy, but you can’t foul him. That was a smart move by Landyn.”
Thomas paced a balanced Demon offense with 15 points while Jumawan (14), Sanders (12) and Bettis (11) also reached double figures. Sanders dished out a career-high six assists as the Demons had 16 assists on 25 field goals. In the first half, Northwestern shared the ball to the tune of 11 assists on its 14 buckets.
Bailey led UIW with a game-high 22 points while Hayman added 19, hitting his first seven shots of the night.
The Demons return to action Saturday when they cap a two-game Southland conference road trip at Houston Christian. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. inside Sharp Gymnasium.