The Northwestern State University of Louisiana men’s basketball team rose to the occasion against John Melvin University in a 121-49 victory in Prather Coliseum on Tuesday night.
In their season opener, the Demons beat Dallas Christian College 96-55 on Nov. 4. NSU then lost in a series of on-the-road games to Texas Tech University with a score of 65-86 on Nov. 8, University of Oklahoma with a score of 57-73 on Nov. 11 and Rice University with a score of 75-77 on Nov. 16.
The Demons now sit at a record of 2-3 after their win against the Millers. Rick Cabrera, men’s head basketball coach, explained how the team needed this win at home after the strand of losses.
“It’s a relief, because the team was down when we lost the Rice game in such dramatic fashion,” Cabrera said. “That’s what I like about my guys; they’re unhappy with losing. So it was good to get a win.”
The team was able to move the ball on offense and make the right plays which ultimately led to a win against the Millers.
“We just challenged them at half to play unselfish and pick up the intensity. We finished strong, and I was proud of the team for that,” Cabrera said.
The Demons ended the first half with 56 points matched to the Millers’ 26 points. NSU finished the game strong by gaining another 65 points to the scoreboard for a final score of 121, while John Melvin gained 23 points for a final score of 49.
Junior guard Dontae Walker led the team by scoring 29 points this game with a field goal average of 0.714 %. “Pushing through and making the basket is just a part of being a basketball player. I knew I was confident. I didn’t have a good start to the season, so I knew I wanted to push and better myself. I proved that last night,” Walker said.
Second leading scorer in the game was junior guard Landyn Jumawan with 17 points, five of which were three-pointers. He led the team in three-pointers after averaging a percentage of 0.63.
“I just trusted in God and put in the work, and everyday I was just stacking days and being consistent. I knew it would pay off; that was the effects of it last night,” Jumawan said.
Aside from Walker and Jumawan’s spotlight on the court, sophomore guard Chris Mubiru, junior forward Willie Williams and senior forward Lado Laku also made double digits for NSU’s score board.
The men’s team will compete against the University of Louisiana at Monroe on Friday, Nov. 22 at 6:30 p.m in Prather Coliseum.
