HAMMOND – The Northwestern State men's basketball team delivered a poised late-game performance Sunday afternoon, pulling away in the final three minutes to secure a 76–68 road win over Southeastern Louisiana and earn its first Southland Conference victory of the season.

Head coach Rick Cabrera said the victory was a direct reflection of his team's resilience after a difficult start to the season.

"I'm so proud of that team," Cabrera said. "We've been through a lot in the first half of our season. I'm just so proud of their perseverance in adversity today. I tell them every day in practice that they're a good basketball team. Today, that main fix was defending and rebounding for 40 minutes, and I thought we did that."

The Demons (2–7, 1–1) battled through a tight first half that featured five ties and constant momentum swings.

Southeastern (3–6, 0–1) struck first with early paint touches from Jeremy Elyzee and Isaiah Gaines, building a 7–0 advantage before NSU settled in.

Micah Thomas sparked the Demons with transition scoring, while Omar Adegbola and Moustapha Loum provided interior production to help NSU briefly seize control midway through the half.

The Lions answered quickly, reclaiming the edge with fast-break points and perimeter shooting behind Jaiden Lawrence and C.J. Booker.

Southeastern pushed its lead to nine late in the half before NSU trimmed the margin at the free-throw line and with a jumper from Kordrick Turner, sending the teams into the break with the Lions holding a 29–25 advantage.

Cabrera said the turnaround from Friday's loss at McNeese began with the defensive approach in the opening 20 minutes.

"That's been the identity I've been looking for from day one," Cabrera said. "We've shown it in spurts, but we've never put it together for 40 minutes. Today we had some mistakes, but we didn't let them compound. In the past, one breakdown would turn into three or four. Today, we kept fighting."

Southeastern maintained control early in the second half, stretching its lead to double figures after buckets from Gaines, Elyzee, and Booker.

The Demons responded with steady execution from Thomas, Chris Mubiru and Justin Redmond, keeping the deficit within reach.

Redmond ignited the comeback with a series of scoring plays over a decisive five-minute stretch. His jumper, layup, and pair of free throws brought NSU within one at 54–53 with 5:17 remaining before he calmly tied the game at the stripe moments later.

After Elyzee briefly put Southeastern back in front, Thomas answered with a jumper to deadlock the contest at 56.

The turning point came moments later when Izzy Miles buried a fast-break 3 to give NSU its first lead of the second half at 59–56 with 3:54 to play.

From there, the Demons closed with control, going a perfect 7-for-7 to finish the game.

Redmond added two more free throws, Miles drilled another 3 and Thomas knocked down a clutch triple with 1:07 remaining to stretch the lead to seven. NSU sealed the win at the line in the final seconds as Miles, Thomas, and Mubiru calmly converted free throws.

Cabrera credited his team's response after Friday's loss for making the difference.

"I was embarrassed after McNeese — not that we lost, but how we lost," Cabrera said. "I told the team that loss only counts as one. We can't let it count as four. We had a great practice, a great shootaround, and the game wasn't pretty, but they kept guarding and getting stops."

NSU shot 51 percent from the field and limited Southeastern to just 16 percent from 3-point range. The Demons dominated second-chance scoring (18–11), bench production (37–16), and rebounding (36–25), while matching the Lions evenly in points off turnovers and assists.

Redmond's career-high 17 points led the closing charge with key scoring and late-game toughness. Thomas delivered timely buckets and free throws, while Miles provided the decisive spark with two late 3-pointers and constant transition pressure. Adegbola and Mubiru supplied key interior and mid-range production as NSU climbed back from multiple double-digit deficits.

Cabrera said the win carries long-term meaning in Southland play.

"When you go on a two-game road swing, you want to win both, but that's hard," Cabrera said. "So you tell yourself, let's get a split. We got the split. If you can get splits on the road and win at home, you'll be in competition for the league. We're proud, we're going to enjoy this one."
 
The Demons return to action Saturday when they travel to California for their final non-conference road game of the year. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. Central.