By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State men’s basketball team knew it would see a different version of the New Orleans Privateers on Monday night than the one the Demons defeated Jan. 20 in Lakefront Arena.
What the Demons did not expect was not to face the No. 7 scorer in the nation, New Orleans guard Jordan Johnson.
With Johnson out, Northwestern State shook off a sluggish start offensively and rediscovered their defensive identity to complete a season sweep of the Privateers with a 70-59 Southland Conference victory inside Prather Coliseum.
“Before the game, when it was obvious Jordan wasn’t playing, two things could happen – this team could come out and say what are we going to do or they can come out and be inspired,” first-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “They came out inspired. They played angry. They defended angry. They held us to 10 points in the first 10, 11 minutes. That was probably the ugliest half we played – and we’ve had some ugly ones – but we were still leading at halftime.”
Northwestern State (7-18, 5-7) held a one-point lead at the break after weathering a 12-0 run the Privateers (8-14, 3-9) put together across a 4:45 stretch of the first half.
The Demons snapped the run with a Justin Wilson layup at the 8:24 mark that triggered a 24-11 surge to give Northwestern State its halftime lead. The push came after Cabrera calmly talked to his team at a first-half timeout before “getting after them a little” in the halftime locker room.
“I came out a little lackadaisical because (Johnson was out),” said junior guard Chase Forte, who led Northwestern State in points (14) and assists (7) while grabbing five rebounds. “I came out expecting to guard Jordan Johnson, and I kind of took my foot off the gas. That was my fault. We picked it up. We were down 12, and coach Cabrera said, ‘I’m not going to yell at you. I expect you to come back.’ We really picked it up after that huddle.”
In taking the 12-point lead, New Orleans hit eight of its first 14 shots. Across the final 28-plus minutes of the game, the Privateers shot 27.3 percent (12-for-44) from the field, including an 0-for-6 mark from beyond the 3-point arc in the second half.
Cabrera said he tells his team if it defends well he will allow it more offensive freedom, and that mantra played out in the second half.
While the Privateers dipped to 28.6-percent shooting in the final 20 minutes, the Demons knocked down 15 of 32 second-half shots to strengthen their shot at a Southland Conference Tournament berth.
It was a balanced offensive effort for Northwestern State, which saw leading scorer Cliff Davis take just five shots and finish with four points.
In addition to Forte’s 14 points, Braelon Bush, Jimel Lane and Justin Wilson all finished with 12 points while Jae Slack and J.C. Riley combined for 23 points off the bench to key the Demons’ 37-10 advantage in that category.
Much like Forte, Lane was at his versatile best Monday night, grabbing a team leading six rebounds and adding a pair of blocks, including one on a Kaleb Jenkins’ corner 3-pointer with 19 seconds left to preserve a seven-point Demon lead.
Lane’s block gave him a second last-minute moment in a home win this season after his two free throws in the closing seconds helped seal a Jan. 15 win against HCU.
“We really picked up the intensity on defense and started to make things flow on offense,” Lane said. “We’re a big defensive team. That’s what we pride ourselves on the most in practice. Playing defense, that’s what we have to do to get wins in this league.”
Without Johnson, Tyson Jackson led the Privateers with 18 points – 14 in the first half – while Carlos Hart added 12 and Jamond Vincent had all 11 of his points after halftime.
The Demons return to action Saturday when they begin a three-game Southland road trip at UIW. Tip off is set for 5 p.m. in San Antonio.