NATCHITOCHES — The Northwestern State men's basketball team turned a tight first half into a runaway win on Friday afternoon, pushing past Ecclesia 95–75 in front of more than 900 fans on Kids Day at Prather Coliseum.
Despite the margin, head coach Rick Cabrera didn't hide his frustration afterward.
"I'm not happy with my team," Cabrera said. "Defensively, we stink. It's got to be fixed. The only positive I can say is we got one (a win) in the left column. We move on, but the way we defend is unacceptable."
After a quick 3 to begin the game from Ecclesia, NSU (1-3) settled in.
Micah Thomas answered with a 3, CJ Larry scored in transition, and Kordrick Turner added an early paint bucket as the Demons jumped ahead 9–5.
Ecclesia (0–5) hung around behind perimeter shooting and tied the game at 19 on a Paul Jones 3 with 10 minutes left in the first half, but the Demons immediately seized full control.
Over the next eight minutes, NSU ripped off a 22–6 run that completely changed the game.
Justin Redmond drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to spark the surge, Omar Adegbola powered through defenders for a pair of inside buckets and Thomas continued attacking off the dribble as the lead ballooned to 43–25.
Adegbola added two more buckets in the closing minutes of the half, and Thomas knocked down two late free throws to send NSU into the locker room up 50–32.
The Demons shot 50 percent before the break and scored 32 points in the paint in the opening 20 minutes alone.
Even in what became a 95-point offensive outing, Cabrera was clear about where his focus remained.
"It's good to see the ball go through the hole for our guys," Cabrera said, "but they needed a game like this to understand the importance of guarding. They shot almost 50 percent against us. That's strictly defense. I told them I don't even want to talk about offense. I don't care about assist numbers. I'm strictly looking at defensive numbers, and they were poor."
Northwestern State kept its momentum to start the second half.
Turner scored at the free-throw line, Chris Mubiru knocked down a mid-range jumper, and Chip Brunt punctuated a fast break with a two-handed dunk as the margin stretched to 60–37 with 15 minutes remaining.
When Adegbola finished another runout at the 14:26 mark, NSU had its largest lead of the afternoon at 65–37.
Ecclesia responded with a handful of 3s, including two more from Hauglie, but never cut the margin below 16.
Cabrera didn't attribute the defensive struggles to the scheme.
"We play hard — we just don't play intelligent defensively," Cabrera said. "We struggle to talk. That's something we've struggled with for a while. Until they fix it, I can't tell you what's going to happen per game."
The Demons' depth and interior scoring controlled the rest of the night, with Adegbola attacking the rim, Redmond settling the offense and Turner finishing through contact.
Mubiru added two more transition finishes, and Brunt threw down his second dunk with under a minute to play to close out the victory.
NSU's depth still shined, producing five double-digit scorers and points from 11 of the 12 Demons who checked into the game.
Adegbola posted a career-high 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting and added five rebounds.
Thomas followed with 17 points on an efficient 6-for-8 night, and Turner added 10 points.
Mubiru contributed 12 points, while Redmond reached double figures with 13 and paced the team with four assists.
The Demons shot 51 percent from the floor, outscored Ecclesia 48–30 in the paint and piled up 29 fast-break points.
Despite the win, Cabrera emphasized the long-term view.
"It's a long season," he said. "I know I sound mad, look mad, but I'm just disappointed because I've seen my team be better. Kudos to them — they made shots — but we allowed way too many open looks."
Northwestern State now moves west for a two-game multi-team event, opening Tuesday at San Francisco before traveling to Grand Canyon on Friday. Tipoff for the matchup with USF is set for 9 p.m. Central.
