SAN FRANCISCO – A big first-half surge from a hot-shooting San Francisco team proved too much for Northwestern State to overcome Tuesday night, as the Demons fell 84–64 at War Memorial Gym.
“We didn’t play well,” head coach Rick Cabrera said. “We gotta do some soul searching on the defensive end. San Francisco is a very good team, an NCAA Tournament caliber team. But we have to be better on the defensive end, and until then, we’re not going to win basketball games.”
Northwestern State (1-4) traded baskets with the Dons early, grabbing a brief 10-9 lead on a transition 3 from Omar Adegbola after a jumper in the paint from Kordrick Turner and a right-wing 3 by Izzy Miles helped the Demons settle in offensively.
From there, San Francisco (4-1) caught fire from the perimeter and at the rim, using a series of 3s and transition finishes to flip the game’s momentum.
The Dons finished the night shooting 53 percent from the floor and 43 percent from deep, hitting 12 3-pointers and consistently converting at the foul line at a 71 percent clip.
The Dons put together a decisive extended run midway through the first half, turning a one-point deficit into a double-digit lead.
Despite late first-half scoring from Landyn Jumawan and Micah Thomas, the Demons went into halftime trailing 50-31.
Justin Redmond opened the second half scoring for the Demons with a 3, later adding another from deep and a driving layup as NSU unsuccessfully tried to chip away at the deficit.
Northwestern was led by Jumawan’s season-high 13 points, while Redmond added 11.
The Demons travel to Grand Canyon, tipping off against the Lopes on Friday at 8 p.m. Central.
