By: Doug Ireland, Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Information Director
LAKE CHARLES – Northwestern State senior postman
Ishmael Lane has emerged as one of the more explosive interior players in college basketball over the last six games, and that's helped the Demon basketball team display its hottest shooting in four seasons.
Coach
Mike McConathy is hoping his team can keep up the steady aim, a composite 53.2 percent in the last two outings, Saturday afternoon at McNeese.
Tip time is targeted for 3 p.m. for a rematch between the Demons (8-15 overall, 3-7 in the Southland Conference) and the Cowboys (7-15, 3-6) at the new McNeese Health and Human Performance Complex, a 4,100-seat arena located at the north end of Cowboy Stadium on McNeese Street. The contest will follow a 1 p.m. women's game between the in-state rivals.
NSU topped McNeese 66-61 in Natchitoches on Jan. 5, coming from nine points down in the second half to prevail as Lane had one of his eight double-doubles this season with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
After sinking only 39 percent in their first 21 outings, the Demons have made 53 percent (58-109) of their shots from the floor in the last two games, started by a torrid 68 percent (19-28) first half last Saturday at Central Arkansas. NSU sank 56 percent there and was over 50 percent in both halves of a 51 percent performance Wednesday night against third-place New Orleans.
The outing at UCA was the program's best since a 62 percent day, also in the Farris Center, to end the 2017 season in a 97-83 Demon victory over UCA.
It's the best back-to-back accuracy against Southland opposition by NSU in four years. That covers a 64-game span dating back to the middle of the 2015 conference season, when a Demons squad led by
Jalan West and
Zeek Woodley nailed 56 percent (62-111) against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and McNeese.
Lane has been the pacesetter. Following a 9-for-9 shooting day in an 80-75 win last Saturday at Central Arkansas, he hit his first five shots against UNO. The 6-8 Port Allen product has made 18 of his last 22 field goals.
Big Ten Conference standouts Bruno Fernando of No. 24 Maryland and Minnesota's Jordan Murphy join the Demon stalwart as the only players in the country with double-double performances in their last six games.
Lane nearly had his first career triple-double Wednesday night when he scored 19, snagged 15 rebounds and rejected a career-best eight shots (all in regulation) in an 81-73 overtime loss to UNO.
In his six-game tear, Lane is averaging 16.7 points and 14.3 rebounds while shooting 62 percent (39-63) from the field. Minnesota's Murphy is on a 16.5/13.7 run while Fernando is averaging 15.3/12.9 for the Terps.
Lane leads the Southland in league play with averages of 12.6 rebounds and 3.0 blocks, coupled with a 14.7 scoring rate.
The Demons, 2-2 on the road in Southland action, face a McNeese squad that is 2-3 in its new home against Southland foes. The Cowboys have dropped their last two, 84-75 last Saturday at home to Lamar and 77-62 Wednesday night at league unbeaten Sam Houston.
NSU got a season-best 14 points Wednesday night from sophomore point guard
C.J. Jones, who played 33 minutes because the Demons are without freshman sensation
Brian White. A foot injury sustained at UCA has sidelined White indefinitely. It will be the 93
rd time in the last 108 games, dating back to the aftermath of a knee injury to West at the end of the 2015-16 opener, that NSU has played without one of its two primary point guards.
Sophomore center
Larry Owens, in his third straight start, contributed 11 points and five rebounds against UNO.
McNeese is led by the Southland's No. 2-ranked rebounder in conference play, Roydell Brown, who has team-high averages of 19.3 points and 9.3 rebounds, shooting 58 percent, in Southland games.
Saturday's action from Lake Charles, called by 14-year veteran announcer Patrick Netherton, can be heard on 100.7 FM KZBL and on the Demon Sports Network. Streaming audio is available at
www.NSUDemons.com/watch and through the new Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded from the Apple Store or on Google Play. The contest can be viewed on a pay-per-game basis at McNeeseSports.com/watch.
The Demons will play on the road again next Wednesday at Lamar, then host Stephen F. Austin next Saturday afternoon in Prather Coliseum.
