Packed by hundreds of young Demons in the stands, the Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s men’s basketball team gained a clear advantage against the Ecclesia College Royals on Nov. 14 in Prather Coliseum, fueled by the additional loud and supportive atmosphere.
The Demons fell short in their first three games, losing to Texas A&M University on Nov. 3, the University of North Texas on Nov. 6 and the University of North Alabama on Nov. 11. Going into their fourth game of the season, NSU hoped to pick up a win as they hosted hundreds of elementary students from the Natchitoches community during their home-opener.
In the first half of the game, the Demons took an 18 point lead, the Royals trailing 50-32. NSU gained this advantage in large part through a series of fast breaks, scoring 29 total points from fast breaks alone throughout the match.
“That was the mentality coming into the game—just outrunning them. We have a lot of runners on the team, so that was really the mentality,” Omar Adegbola, redshirt sophomore guard, said.
The Demons went 20-40 on their shots and had a solid 50 percent field goal percentage in the first half of the game, holding Ecclesia to nearly 40 percent, according to ESPN. This defensive performance was a decided improvement for the Demons.
The second half was another dominant offensive showcase for the Demons. Despite going 2-11 on 3 point field goals, the men still posted 45 points. NSU also improved on their free throws, moving up from a 62.8 free throw percentage to a 81.3 free throw percentage, going 13-16 from the line in the second half.
However, NSU’s defense faltered in the second half. Ecclesia was able to move up to a 60 free throw percentage and scored 43 points.
Head coach Rick Cabrera wasn’t pleased with the defensive performance. “Not happy with my team. Defensively we stink, it’s gotta be fixed. The only positive I could say is we have one in the [win] column now, but with the way we defended it’s unacceptable,” Cabrera said in a postgame interview.
However, Cabrera himself couldn’t deny that the team finally scored their first win of the season, sitting now at 1-3. The Demons led for almost 38 minutes with only three lead changes, at one moment carrying the lead by as many as 28 points.
The game was a great show for the Demons offensive, NSU scoring 52 points off the bench.
Adegbola helped lead the offense with 21 points, going 7/11 on his shots as well as scoring five rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Micah Thomas and sophomore guard Justin Redmond also contributed to the Demons’ win, scoring 17 points and 13 points respectively.
The Demons ended with a 95-75 win. Prather was also more electric than ever, with the elementary students in attendance creating a huge turnout for the Demons.
“I wish we had all our games like that! We need to try to get the kids out more, the energy is contagious, and to our standards we didn’t play well enough for them. We need to put on a better show for them. Because they were there, and they were loud for us,” Thomas said.
The Demons will follow their first win of the season with a two-game road trip. They will travel to California to play the University of San Francisco Dons on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 9 p.m., before heading to Arizona to take on the Grand Canyon University Antelopes on Friday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m.
