Northwestern State’s mens basketball team faced another week of hardship with a loss against Houston Baptist on Feb. 9.

The Huskies and the Demons were shot-for-shot in the first quarter but fell behind by 20 points during the second quarter.

After an apparently effective halftime talk, the Demons came out with an enthusiastic attitude, making a comeback from being down 20 points to only being down by 10.

The score was 62-72 with four minutes left in the final quarter, but the Demons still fell to the Huskies, 69-86.

Josh Boyd made his debut after being out for four games due to an emergency appendectomy on Jan. 25. Boyd played a total of 17 minutes, scoring six points for the Demons.

Sabri Thompson was the leading scorer in the game against Houston Baptist, putting 24 points on the board.

“It’s just frustrating because we always wait to the last minute to play hard, but I just wanted to win,” Thompson said.

Iziahiah Sweeney scored the second highest amount after Thompson, racking up 13 points.

“I would change me getting more rebounds; I feel that I wasn’t attacking the glass aggressive enough,” Sweeney said about his own performance.

Coach McConathy remained optimistic and confident about his team’s performance even though they lost.

In a post-game interview with KTBS, McConathy said, “I was pleased with our effort. I thought Bailey Walker really did a great job defensively.”

He also made comments about the quality performances from Josh Boyd, Devonte Hall, Sabri Thompson, Iziahiah Sweeney and Ishmael Lane.

Northwestern State fell short at Abilene Christian University on Feb. 11, losing 72-76, but have the opportunity to redeem themselves against Southeastern on Feb. 16.