Northwestern State nearly flipped the script Monday night on Mike McConathy Court at Prather Coliseum, rallying after halftime with its best stretch of the night and turning a sluggish first half into a one-possession game before falling 61–58 to Nicholls in Southland Conference men’s basketball play.
The Demons (6-16, 4-9) went on a sustained run after halftime that erased a double-digit deficit and shifted the momentum inside Prather Coliseum.
The Colonels (10-13, 9-5) had pushed their lead to the night’s largest early in the half, going up 39-22 after Zee Hamoda hit a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws.
Then the Demons hit the go switch and started to rally. As they’ve done in nearly every game lately, they headed into the final minute with the outcome on the line.
“This has just been the story of our season,” head coach Rick Cabrera said after his team’s eighth down-to-the-buzzer finish in the last nine games. “I’m always going to take some blame as the coach. I’ve got to help my guys finish and get off to better starts, because in each of those games they come out sleepwalking. But we’re not out of it. We’re going to keep fighting, keep chopping wood and keep getting better.”
The Demons’ second-half surge was fueled by stops on defense and contributions from multiple players.
Izzy Miles jumpstarted the comeback at the free-throw line, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the stripe, while Chris Mubiru asserted himself in the paint, scoring, rebounding and protecting the rim.
Kordrick Turner and Willie Williams added key buckets, trimming the deficit possession by possession.
Cabrera praised his team’s effort during the comeback.
“The momentum was all in our favor,” Cabrera said. “Our guys deserved it. I thought Izzy played really well. He didn’t shoot well from the floor, but he made his free throws. Micah (Thomas) didn’t have one of his games, but that’s what happens when they defend the other team’s best players—the other guys have to step up. Chris was big in the comeback, both offensively and defensively.”
Northwestern took its first lead of the night at 49-48 on a Mubiru 3-pointer with just over eight minutes remaining, but couldn’t extend the lead past 3 points. Nicholls reclaimed the edge with five minutes left and held on for the win. The Demons had a go-ahead shot by Thomas that missed in the final 10 seconds.
“Basketball is so fast,” Cabrera said. “Both teams made mistakes, but our margin of error is so small. When we make mistakes, other teams capitalize. We’ve got to be better, and we’re going to keep fighting until the good man upstairs tells us we can’t play anymore this season.”
Despite the loss, Cabrera said he saw positive signs from his team and emphasized the need to focus on the next game, Wednesday night at home against East Texas A&M.
“We have a quick turnaround, so we’ll watch film and hopefully get better,” Cabrera said. “Our guys kept fighting. When we were down 17 in the first half, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this can get ugly.’ But I had to go in at halftime with a different approach. We didn’t start the second half great either, but we kept getting stops and eventually took the lead.”
Mubiru led the Demons with 16 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting, while Miles and Thomas added 11 points apiece.
Northwestern shot 80 percent from the free-throw line and improved its interior scoring, outscoring Nicholls 18–8 in the paint in the second half after being outscored in the first.
