By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations; featured photo by Jamie Bustos, Nicholls Athletics
THIBODAUX – The Northwestern State men’s basketball team ran out of stops after halftime Monday night.
The defense the Demons demonstrated in the first half of Southland Conference play watched as homestanding Nicholls awoke late in the first half and did not stop in the final 20 minutes, turning a halftime tie into a 73-66 Colonels’ Southland Conference victory in Stopher Gym.
“The whole second half was all about getting stops,” first-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “In any game, but on the road especially, you have to guard. You have to get stops. I don’t think we made anything hard on them. That’s on me. I didn’t plan for it to happen, but it was bad.”
The Demons (6-17, 4-6) had the hot hand in the first half, riding a sizzling start from Cliff Davis to as much as a nine-point advantage in the first 15 minutes of the game.
Davis, the Southland’s leading 3-point shooter in terms of makes, accuracy and attempts, knocked down his first four 3-pointers of the game and have five first-half 3s in total. He finished with seven 3-pointers – his fifth game this season with at least seven made 3s – and a game-high 25 points.
Davis’ fifth and final 3 of the first half stopped an 11-3 Nicholls spurt that gave the Colonels (12-10, 7-2) their first lead of the game at 33-30 on a Diante Smith 3-pointer.
That run and a 12-4 Nicholls surge across the first 3:45 of the second half continued a trend for the Demons, who saw another early first-half lead dissipate.
“They’re 7-2 (in conference) after tonight,” Cabrera said. “They have good offensive players, but when the run hits, we’re playing catchup and it’s not a short run, it’s a long run. That’s where offensively, we don’t have the firepower. Our margin for error is extremely thin.”
The early Nicholls run portended a much better offensive second half for the home team, which shot 54.2 percent from the field in the second half and committed just two turnovers. No one was hotter in the final 20 minutes for the Colonels than Michael Gray Jr.
Gray connected on 3 of 5 second-half 3-point tries, leading to a 13-point second-half performance. Jamal West Jr. matched Gray with 13 second-half points, doing most of his work inside or at the free-throw line (5-for-8).
Although the Demons struggled defensively in the second half, Davis and Braelon Bush awakened late to cut Nicholls’ 12-point lead at the 3:47 mark to six with 1:57 on a Davis layup.
NSU could not cut further into the lead as Bush had an open 3 that would have cut the lead in half with 1:04 to play before Smith added two more free throws and Gray forced a late held-ball situation to secure the Colonels’ fourth straight win.
Davis’ 25 points led four Demons in double figures as Chase Forte added 17 while Bush and Duane Posey each chipped in 11 points for Northwestern State, which had just five players score in the game.
Gray and West each had 17 for Nicholls, which got 16 from Smith and 11 from Byron Ireland.
The Demons return to action Saturday when they host Southeastern in Prather Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. following the women’s game between the schools.