Lamar’s last-second steal denies Demons’ bid for victory

NATCHITOCHES – Battling to escape a long skid, the young Northwestern State basketball team came tantalizingly close to being rewarded Wednesday night.

But one of the Southland Conference’s best point guards, Lamar’s Joey Frenchwood, made a game-winning steal in the final 10 seconds and sank two free throws with 2.7 remaining as the Cardinals held off the Demons 79-75 at Prather Coliseum.

NSU (3-20 overall, 0-12 in the Southland) lost for the 15th straight game despite a winning effort, said 19th-year head coach Mike McConathy, whose team was the fifth-youngest in the country at the outset of the season, before losing two seniors who started a combined 200 career games and scored over 2,500 career points.

“I was really proud of them in all areas. We settled down in the second half, and had only five turnovers (after 13 by halftime). We tied a great rebounding team on the boards (35-35),” he said. “Down 11, we chipped away to the point where we have the ball, down two, with 16 seconds left.

“We tried to get the ball inside, and we didn’t, and Frenchwood made a great steal, and that ending was very tough to swallow. But the most important thing, we were finally in a position to win, and against a really good opponent. We didn’t win, but maybe that’s a step in the right direction.”

Lamar (15-10, 7-5), which had dumped Stephen F. Austin 76-54 in its most recent outing, won for the fifth time in seven games. The Cardinals got a 25-point, 10-rebound outing from senior forward Carlton Weisbrod, leading three double-digit scorers, not including Frenchwood (nine points, four assists, three steals).

Three freshmen led NSU’s scoring as the Demons shot 50 percent overall, matching their best mark in conference play, and sank 71 percent (24-34) at the free throw line. Czar Perry, in his fourth game back after being sidelined for 15 contests, posted a season-best 16 points. C.J. Jones scored NSU’s first nine points and finished with 14, matching his season high with four assists. Larry Owens scored 11.

Junior center Ishmael Lane battled to post 10 points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals. His blocks moved him into a tie for 10th on the program’s career rejections list at 91.

Sparked by Jones’ early tear, the Demons led for 16:35 in the first half before the Cards went on top to stay with eight straight points. A turnover with 5.1 seconds left gave Lamar an opportunity that Toney Noel converted off an NSU defensive mistake, with a driving layup at the buzzer for a 39-32 advantage.

“That sequence was just as costly as the one at the end of the game,” said McConathy. “Take that away and we’re tied at 75 with the ball and we play the final possession very differently.”

Lamar pushed its advantage to 11 twice in the second half, held off one Demon surge to within 61-58 with 6:58 left, and led 70-62 with 3:57 to go. A three-point play by Lane, off a Jones assist, with 45 seconds remaining drew NSU within 77-75, and the Cardinals turned it over with 19 seconds to go.

But the Demons gave it up for the last time 12 seconds later.

“We’re growing, we’re growing, we’re growing,” said McConathy. “These kids are playing probably as hard as any team we’ve had in five years. We don’t have wins to show for it yet, but the effort, the competitiveness, is getting better every game, every practice.”

NSU will go on the road to SFA Saturday at 6. The Lumberjacks clipped the Demons 64-56 at Prather Coliseum Jan. 6. If McConathy’s team can’t get over the hump this week, afterwards they’ll be on even footing when they meet the other two teams at the wrong end of the league standings, Houston Baptist at home next Wednesday and Incarnate Word in San Antonio on Feb. 21.