Demon Basketball | 1/8/2019 4:24:00 PM
NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State basketball team has won four of its last five, and while the Demons' progress is evident it's vital to make even bigger strides starting at home Wednesday night against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, says 20
th-year coach
Mike McConathy.
Tip time is 6:30 at Prather Coliseum between the Demons and Islanders, who share overall records of 6-9 and are two of the 10 Southland Conference teams off to 1-1 league starts.
NSU rallied to beat McNeese 66-61 Saturday afternoon. AMCC couldn't hold a lead at Lamar and fell 61-55, after beginning the conference season at home with an 87-75 victory over Central Arkansas.
The Demons opened league play a week ago with a 78-72 home loss to Nicholls, wasting a four-point lead coming down the stretch.
But in their next outing, the Demons were rock-solid late in the game, with seniors
Ishmael Lane and
Malik Metoyer making decisive plays, walk-ons
John Norvel and
Jacob Guest draining go-ahead 3-pointers, and freshman point guard
Brian White steering the way while scoring 10 points for the second straight game.
"We've made a lot of progress, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. We did a great job of being aggressive," said McConathy. "
Brian White had great pace and good composure to his game and that helped us in very critical times.
"The biggest key was shooting well at the right time. We hit big shots against McNeese and didn't do that against Nicholls. We did attack and get good shots in the McNeese game, which was very positive."
The game also identified areas to improve, he said.
"Our reaction from offense to defense in the last minute of Saturday's game wasn't good. We've got to improve on our transition defense.
"We need to be more aggressive, offensively and defensively, and defend and rebound better," said McConathy.
The first week of Southland competition indicated there's little difference between the 13 teams.
"There's a great deal of parity. Whoever comes and plays the hardest is usually going to win, 70 percent of the time at least," said McConathy, who coached the Demons for the 600
th game in Saturday's win. "That's encouraging because our guys, in practice and games, have played hard recently. Our effort has been high level and that gives you the chance to win."
Lane, a 6-8 senior forward/center, had 17 points and 12 rebounds in the McNeese win. He is averaging 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in two league games, while White and junior guard
Jacob Guest both are scoring 10 per game. Metoyer, who was producing just 1.5 points per game in non-conference action, has averaged 8.5 in the Southland contests.
AMCC is led by junior guard Kareem South, who is averaging 17 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.5 steals in the last six games. The Islanders held off the Demons 67-65 last year in Corpus Christi for their fifth straight win in the series. NSU has hosted only one of the last five meetings.
The contest can be heard on 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches and through the Demon Sports Network with Patrick Netherton calling the action. Steaming video and audio are available at
www.NSUDemons.com/watch or through the new Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded through either the Apple Store or Google Play.
Wednesday night's game is the last of a three-game homestand to tip off the league race. NSU will observe Law Enforcement Appreciation Day with a halftime game between the Natchitoches City Police and the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office. City police Capt. Brad Walker and Merry Byars, chief of the Community Services Division of the NPSO, will be honorary coaches for the Demons.
NSU will play at Stephen F. Austin Saturday afternoon, then go to Abilene Christian the following Saturday before a Wednesday, Jan. 23 home game against Sam Houston State.
