Rice pulls away from Northwestern State in second half

NATCHITOCHES – For the first 20 minutes Saturday afternoon, the Northwestern State men’s basketball team stayed within striking distance of visiting Rice.

In the second half, however, the Owls collected themselves and cruised to a 76-51 victory to spoil the Demons’ first home game in 33 days.

“It’s completely unacceptable,” first-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “I wish I could say some good things. It’s unacceptable to me and my staff. To the fans, I apologize to you. That was a bad effort. That’s on me, the head coach. I’ll get it right. I promise you that.”

Northwestern State (1-10) broke quickly, scoring the first five points of the game to set the tone for a nip-and-tuck first half that saw much of the first 20 minutes played within a possession or two lead.

Following Justin Wilson’s layup at the 18:31 mark, the Demons maintained the lead for the next five-plus minutes. Duane Posey’s second-chance layup with 12:56 to play in the half started a quick 4-0 push for the Demons, who established their final lead of the game. Down four after a Jamison Epps jumper at 12:08, Rice embarked on a quick 8-0 spurt across the next 1:44 of game time to take a lead it never relinquished.

The Demons stayed close throughout the first half, twice cutting the lead back to two points before the Owls (5-6) built their first double-figure lead of the game with 2:31 remaining before halftime.

A 3-pointer from freshman Chris Mubiru and a Braelon Bush layup to beat the shot clock twice cut the lead to eight, but that was as close as the Demons could get in the final 32-plus minutes. NSU trailed by 10 at halftime as neither team shot better than 42.9 percent from the field.

That changed quickly in the second half as Rice found its offense.

A 13-2 run from Rice in the first 5:10 of the second half gave the Owls their first 20-point lead of the game and the margin never was less than 18 the rest of the game. NSU cut the lead to 18 with its best scoring run of the game – a 6-0 spurt fueled by a four-point trip from Justin Wilson, who finished with an NSU career-high 10 points.

Rice connected on 18 of 30 (60 percent) second-half shots while holding the Demons to an 11-for-32 mark (34.4 percent) in the final 20 minutes.

“We’re going to find guys who will maintain being coachable, playing hard and being disciplined,” Cabrera said. “I take the blame. I’m not a finger pointer. I’m going to get it right.”

Forward Max Fielder led a balanced Rice attack with 16 points and a game-high five assists while Mekhi Mason added 14 points for the Owls, who saw 10 players score. Wilson was the only double-figure scorer for Northwestern State, which also 10 players score but no others with more than eight points.

The Demons return to action Tuesday when they cap a two-game homestand by hosting Southern-New Orleans. Tipoff is set for 6:30 in Prather Coliseum. The NSU holiday toy drive will continue ahead of the game. Fans are asked to bring a new, unwrapped gift for a child that will be distributed through the Coach De Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club.