Box Score NATCHITOCHES – Senior center William Mosley led a smothering Northwestern State defense Saturday with game-high totals of 5 blocks and 3 steals, adding a game-best 12 rebounds and a team-high 15 points as the Demons rolled by visiting Texas State 83-68.

It was the Southland Conference opener for the Demons (8-7), who pulled away from a 35-29 halftime lead by shooting 55 percent afterwards. NSU, seventh nationally with an average of 9.7 steals per game, snagged 14 and harassed the Bobcats (7-8, 0-2) into 23 turnovers.

Demetrice Jacobs posted a season high 14 points, equaled by Shamir Davis, while Louis Ellis scored 11 and James Hulbin 10 for Northwestern.  Mosley moved within 3 blocks of joining the all-time NCAA Top 25 rankings for career blocks by raising his total to 388.

Ellis and Tyler Washington drained 3-point shots in a surge of eight unanswered points, with the Ellis trey pushing NSU ahead 64-49 with 9:43 remaining. The beleaguered Bobcats never got closer than 13 points afterward and trailed by 20, 79-59, for the first time with 3:53 to go before the Demons began running down the shot clock on their possessions to close out the game.

“We were able to create some loose balls, and we did a good job of attacking their press and Mosley got dunk after dunk after dunk. We played extremely hard and extremely well together,” said 13^th-year Demons' coach Mike McConathy. “Boy, we competed, and I don't know if they knew what hit them.”

Texas State came in with the nation's No. 8 scoring offense, averaging 81.5 per game, but struggled Saturday. The Bobcats, beaten on a last-second shot at home by Stephen F. Austin after blowing a 14-point lead in their league opener Wednesday, picked up 18 points by Vonn Jones and 12 from Brooks Ybarra.

Jacobs, a junior college transfer who had only 6 points and 1 assists in NSU's last two games at No. 14 Mississippi State and Oklahoma, had his best game at NSU. Along with setting a new scoring high, he posted a game-high 7 assists to just 1 turnover and had 2 steals while sinking 4 of 5 shots, 2 of his 3 from behind the 3-point arc, and adding 4 of 5 aim on free throws.
 
“Demetrice was awful good today. He had 7 assists, some beautiful passes, and created some really nice baskets for us,” said McConathy.

The Demons recorded 20 assists, matching their season best, as Ellis equaled his career high with 5. They overcame 41 percent first-half shooting aim to finish at 48 percent.

“That's what we want. Today everybody really brought it and the results speak for themselves,” said McConathy. “This was a great way to start the conference race.”

Northwestern goes to Nicholls Wednesday night, then plays host to Central Arkansas in Prather Coliseum next Saturday afternoon.