NATCHITOCHES – For the second time in as many meetings this season, the Northwestern State men's basketball team found itself on the wrong end of a pivotal first-half run against Southeastern.
 
This time, the Lions did not wait until the waning minutes of the first half to swing the momentum to their side. Instead, the Lions' double-figure scoring surge occurred just after the 10-minute mark, setting in motion their 69-59 Southland Conference victory inside Prather Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
 
"We lost this game in the first half," first-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. "We were even with them scoring in the second half, but we're down 10 points at home in the first half, and that's how you lose a game."
 
The Demons (6-18, 4-7) led for 7:09 Saturday afternoon – all in the first half. NSU last held the lead at the 9:20 mark of the first half before Nick Caldwell tied the game with a fast-break layup.
 
Caldwell's bucket accounted for the third and fourth points of what became a 13-0 run for Southeastern (11-13, 6-5), turning NSU's 11-7 lead to a 20-11 SLU advantage.
 
The run came after the Demons limited Southeastern to 7 points in the first 10:07 of the first half, marking the second straight home game in which NSU held its opponent to less than 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Demon defense was sharp early, holding the Lions to a 2-for-8 start from the field.
 
In the final 29-plus minutes, however, the Lions found their offensive footing, shooting 24-for-40 (60 percent).
 
While Southeastern flourished offensively, the Demons could not solve the SLU defense. Northwestern State shot 34.9 percent for the game and did not crack the 36-percent mark in either half.
 
The defensive struggles negated NSU's advantages in points off turnovers (18-13), second-chance points (10-4) and fast-break points (11-5). Although the Demons lost the rebounding battle by four, they were plus-7 in turnover margin.
 
"Sometimes, you want a guy who can calm the sea a little bit," Cabrera said. "There are times, as a coach, I need to control my emotions. These guys feed off my emotions. (Runs) have punched us in the face eight, nine, 10 times this season, but at some point it has to stop. We have a lot of season left, and I still believe in these guys. We lost to a good team. We got outplayed, outcoached. They did what they were supposed to do, and we didn't."
 
Down by 10 at the half, the Demons whittled the lead to seven on three occasions in the first five-plus minutes of the second half only to see the Lions lengthen the lead to as much as 18 points with 9:17 to play.
 
That's when a technical foul on Caldwell sparked the Demons' last best run of the game – an eight-point push to slice the lead to 10 with 7:18 to play. Northwestern State, however, could not cut further into the lead because of a balanced Lions' attack that saw four players reach double figures, led by Caldwell's 15 points.
 
Roscoe Eastmond added 14 – keying SLU's first-half surge with nine points – Roger McFarlane added 11 points and 10 rebounds and Dylan Canoville chipped in 10 points and five blocks off the bench.
 
Cliff Davis led Northwestern State with 17 points, extending his season-long double-figure scoring run to seven games. Davis, the Southland's top 3-point shooter, knocked down three from distance to move into fifth place on NSU's single-season 3-point list with 79.
 
After putting four scorers in double figures in Monday's loss at Nicholls, the Demons saw only Davis eclipse that number Saturday. Davis added three assists and a career-high three steals.
 
"We put a lot on Cliff, because he carries this team on the offensive end," Cabrera said. "There are times we need other guys to step up. There are four other guys out there with him. When we have a balanced scoring attack, the data proves it – we win basketball games. I'm not saying anyone played bad, but they didn't make shots. When you don't make shots at the gym where you practice, you're not going to win. That's what happened."
 
The Demons conclude their two-game homestand Monday night when they host New Orleans. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. in Prather Coliseum.