Northwestern State finds remedy for ski with win over Dallas Christian

NATCHITOCHES – For a Northwestern State team battling the flu during its final exam week and needing to snap a six-game losing streak, Dallas Christian proved to be the perfect medicine.

The Demons created separation early with transition buckets and turnovers en route to an 89-67 win Saturday in Prather Coliseum.

NSU (2-8) scored the first 17 points and led 23-4 in the opening minutes, and the Demons never looked back.

Seven different players scored in the Demons’ early surge, and all 10 Demons who played scored at least six points in the win.

“We came out really ready to play from the start,” said NSU associate head coach Jeff Moore. “Our first group played well to start, but I think in the second half we relaxed a little bit.

“We had a couple of guys who were back in the gym for the first time in four days because we’re working through the flu. We had to put some guys in some different roles, but it was a good day even though I wished we played better in the second half.”

Freshman Shaun Riley made his first two career field goals during the run with sophomores Cedric Garrett (six points) and Jalen King (four points) leading the early charge.

NSU built a 25-point halftime lead before Dallas Christian made eight second-half three pointers and outscored the Demons by three after halftime.

Riley was one of four Demons to log new career highs in scoring. Riley finished with eight points while King (17 points), sophomore Zurabi Zhgenti (12 points) and Stavros Polatoglou (six points) also recorded career bests.

Polatoglou added a career-high 10 rebounds as the Demons outrebounded the Crusaders (1-3) by 10.

“We’ve been focusing on rebounding in practice and put a lot of emphasis on it, and everybody crashed the boards to get extra possessions,” Polatoglou said. “It feels good to get an opportunity to play more minutes today (17 minutes) and take advantage of it, and it’s a good confidence boost before we go play LSU.”

Polatoglou arguably had the play of the game when he chunked an inbounds pass from three-quarters court to a streaking Jovan Zelenbaba for the layup.

Saturday was the first appearance of Carvell Teasett, who missed the season’s first nine games.

Teasett contributed nine points, five assists and three steals as he worked to get his game legs back in 23 minutes.

The Baton Rouge native will head back home Tuesday when the Demons head to No. 25 LSU.

“It felt amazing to be back on the floor with my teammates because I’ve been practicing with them and see how hard they work in practice, but I couldn’t help them in the games,” Teasett said. “It’s so awesome to be back playing with my guys.”

At least nine NSU players and coaches were affected by the flu this week, including head coach Mike McConathy. McConathy sat on the bench during Saturday’s game and offered input, but Kendal Coleman, Brian White, Jordan Potts and Robert Chougkaz missed the contest.

NSU shot 51 percent from the field, turned 23 DCC turnovers into 27 points and outscored the Crusaders in the paint 60-18.

King shot 7-11 and Zhgenti made 5-6 while McDonald made 3-6 3-pointers with four assists. McDonald scored 11 as one of three Demons in double figures.

Dallas Christian was led by Royce Mendez (5-6 3-pointers) with 17 points while Tyjuan Battles chipped in 16.