northwestern st. demons-college basketball odds gambling ncaa basketball

Gov. Blanco, legislature honor Demon basketball team

2006-06-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

Taylor Townsend (fourth from left) presents Gov. Kathleen Blanco with a framed and matted “Cinderella Wears Purple” souvenir piece commemorating the NCAA Tournament victory over nationally-ranked Iowa by the NSU Demons basketball team on March 17. Townsend and Sen. Mike Smith (left of Gov. Blanco) arranged the team’s visit to Baton Rouge.
Wednesday afternoon, head coach Mike McConathy addressed the state House and accepted resolutions praising the team’s accomplishments from both the state Senate and House.
Gov. Blanco and her husband Ray, a former college football coach, gave the group a guided tour of the governor’s mansion and hosted a dinner at the mansion for the NSU contingent.
Shown (left to right): NSU president Dr. Randy Webb and his wife, Brenda; athletic director Greg Burke (rear); Connie McConathy and her husband, Coach Mike; graduate manager Gabe Carter (behind Sen. Smith); Sen. Smith, Demon players Demetrius Bell (rear) and Jared Stevenson; Demon players (partially obscured behind Gov. Blanco) Sutton Lloyd and Kalem Porterie (rear), next to players Michael McConathy (middle) and Colby Bargeman (rear); basketball administrative assistant Cathy Martin, players (obscured behind Rep. Townsend) Eric Woods, John Anthony Anglin, Marcellas Ross, and assistant coach Ryan Edwards, Mark Slessinger and Dave Simmons.

Thursday at 6 in Prather for 'NSU Demons March Madness Celebration'

2006-03-30T13:52:00.000-08:00

Fans are invited free of charge to the hour-long “NSU Demons’ March Madness Celebration” Thursday evening at 6 in Prather Coliseum, recognizing the Northwestern State basketball team for its record-shattering 2005-06 season that finished with the Demons odds among the final 32 teams in the NCAA Tournament after a first-round win.
Among the activities will be a contest giving NSU students the chance to duplicate the game-winning 3-point shot by Jermaine Wallace just before the final horn last Friday as the Demons completed a comeback from a 17-point deficit to beat the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Big Ten Conference Tournament champions, 64-63, at Auburn Hills, Mich.
The first 1,000 people attending will receive a commemorative poster featuring action photographs of the Demons with game-by-game scores of their school-record 26-8 season. All Northwestern players and coaches will participate in the celebration and will sign autographs and pose for pictures at the close of the event.
Highlights and behind-the-scenes footage from the NCAA Tournament will be shown during the celebration. The NSU pep band and cheerleaders will perform.
Coach Mike McConathy will speak along with the seven seniors on the squad — Byron Allen, Alfonse Dyer, Kerwin Forges, Clifton Lee, Tyronn Mitchell, D.J. Ross and Wallace.

Magical season comes to an end for Demons

2006-03-21T10:33:00.000-08:00

Jerry West was flicking jumpers for West Virginia the last time the Mountaineers was rolling like this in the NCAA tournament.
Kevin Pittsnogle scored 14 points to lead the sixth-seeded Mountaineers to a 67-54 gambling spread victory over 14th-seeded Northwestern State on Sunday in the second round.
West Virginia has won two games in back-to-back NCAAs for the first time since the famed West led it to the title game in 1959 and a regional semifinal the next year.
The Mountaineers led by as many as 25 in the second half, but had to hold off a late rally as the Demons pulled to 57-49 with four-plus minutes left.
West Virginia (22-10) will play the winner of the Texas-North Carolina State game Thursday in an Atlanta Regional semifinal.
Clifton Lee and Keenan Jones each scored 11 for the Demons, the lowest-seeded team to win in the first round.
The Southland Conference champions (26-8) had a chance to be the third 14th-seeded team to reach the round of 16 and first since Chattanooga in 1997. The pride of Natchitoches, La., also could've been the first from their conference to win two NCAA tournament games since 1985, when Karl Malone helped Louisiana Tech pull off the feat.
The Demons weren't able to complete a remarkable turnaround as it did Friday, but it wasn't for a lack of effort.
Northwestern State overcame a 17-point deficit in the final 8 1/2 minutes against third-seeded Iowa and won on Jermaine Wallace's fadeaway 3-pointer with a split second left for its seventh double-digit comeback this season.
West Virginia college basketball team put the Demons in a hole they couldn't get out of.
The Mountaineers went on a 16-3 run early in the game to take an 11-point lead thanks to their 1-3-1 zone, crisp passing and jumpers West would've been proud of.
West Virginia led 41-19 at halftime -- turning 19 turnovers into 17 points.
The Mountaineers seemed to stunt any comeback chances for the Demons with steady play early in the second half, taking a 48-23 lead.
Then, Northwestern State started outhustling a team that might've thought the game was over.
The Demons outscored West Virginia 26-9 to pull within eight, but couldn't get closer. The Mountaineers held onto their lead despite going nearly 13 minutes without a field goal, helped by free throws. West Virginia was 24-of-33 at the line while the Demons were 6-of-11.
Mike Gansey scored 11 while Frank Young and J.D. Collins had 10 points apiece for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia of the Big East beat Southern Illinois 64-46 and ended up with a comfortable margin against the Demons, starting the tournament in stark contrast to its previous run. All four of the Mountaineers' tourney games last year were close, including an overtime loss to Louisville that kept them from the Final Four.
West Virginia found its groove in suburban Detroit after slumping into the NCAA tournament with five losses in seven game

Demons tip off SLC tournament Tuesday night at 7 in Prather against Roadrunners

2006-03-07T10:10:00.000-08:00

Southland Conference basketball champion Northwestern State tips off pursuit of a different title, NCAA Tournament entry, when it plays host to eighth-seeded Texas-San Antonio Tuesday night at 7 in Prather Coliseum in the quarterfinals of the O’Reilly Auto Parts SLC Tournament.
It’s the second meeting between the Demons (22-7) and the Roadrunners (11-16) in five days. Friday afternoon in San Antonio, the teams wrapped up the regular season with Northwestern building a 20-point lead and weathering a 3-point onslaught by UTSA before closing the game with a 19-5 run over the final six minutes to post an 85-64 total points spread victory.
The first contest this season pitting NSU and UTSA was Jan. 26 in Natchitoches, when the Demons pulled off a 23-point turnaround, using a 16-0 run in the second half to take command in a 70-59 win. The Roadrunners led by a dozen in the first half and by 10 at halftime.
“I don’t have to say anything to our guys about UTSA. They know how hard we’ve had to work to win twice against them and this game is going to require an even better performance,” said seventh-year Demons coach Mike McConathy. “We’re playing well at the right time of the season and hopefully we can sustain that. It’s good to have the chance to play this one at home.”
The Demons earned homecourt advantage throughout the conference tournament by winning the league title running away from the other 10 teams. NSU went 15-1, posting a four-game margin over second-place Sam Houston State.
“That’s nice and all, but now it’s history. It’s a one-game season,” said NSU junior guard Luke Rogers. “This is our biggest game of the season, and what we do from this point forward will be what we remember the most. It’s what we’ve been working toward since the day we got on campus last fall. This is an exciting time.”
Playing at home appears to be a significant advantage for Northwestern, 11-0 this year at Prather Coliseum and 26-2 at home since the start of last season.
The Demons basketball team have won 12 straight games overall against SLC opposition. They are 25-2 in their last 27 games against conference foes dating back to last year.
Northwestern’s balanced attack is paced by senior forward Clifton Lee, who averages 14.0 points, the only double figure scoring total for the champions.
UTSA gets 18 points per game from senior guard Andre Owens.

SLC champs visit Texas State Wednesday night at 7

2006-03-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

Texas — With all due respect to Payton Manning and teammates, Northwestern State basketball coach Mike McConathy didn’t hesitate in bringing up the Indianapolis Colts minutes after the Demons clinched sole possession of the Southland Conference championship with two games left to play, starting Wednesday night at last-place Texas State.
Tipoff is 7 o’clock at Strahan Coliseum between the visiting Demons (20-7 overall, 13-1 in the SLC) and the Bobcats (3-22, 1-13). Northwestern wraps up the regular season Friday with a 3 o’clock contest at Texas-San Antonio, then opens the O’Reilly Auto Parts SLC Tournament at home with a quarterfinal game next Tuesday night at 7.
Northwestern dumped Texas State 89-71 on Jan. 28 in Natchitoches, part of an ongoing 10-game conference winning streak for the Demons. NSU routed McNeese State 97-79 last Saturday, locking up outright ownership of the SLC crown, while Texas State dropped its second straight, falling 70-59 at Stephen F. Austin. The Bobcats did win their last home game, 85-68 over UTSA on Feb. 18.
McConathy is determined his Demons avoid the same late-season and playoff fade that befell Manning’s Colts, who won their first 13 NFL games and locked up top seeding in the AFC playoff bracket with three regular-season games remaining. The Colts lost two of their last three regular-season games, while playing starters sparingly to rest them for posteason, then were shocked at home by the lowest seed in the AFC playoff bracket, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I really admire Payton Manning and Tony Dungy,” said McConathy. “There’s no doubt they were the best team in pro football until they quit trying to be the best team and shifted gears. That’s an easy example for our guys to understand.
“At this stage, it’s not what we’ve done this year, it’s what we’re going to do from this point forward,” he said. “We’ve played pretty well and have been getting progressively better over the past few weeks. It’s important that we keep that going because the most important time of the season is right here, right now.”
Playing two opponents in their final home games is also a challenge for the ncaa Demons.
“They will be honoring their seniors and trying to send them out with a big win,” said McConathy. “We’ve seen it all season because we were picked to win the conference championship, and now that we’ve done it, we know we can count on getting the best our opponents have to offer. That’s fine, because it brings out the best in our team.”
Northwestern relies on the nation’s deepest roster, led by senior forward Clifton Lee, scoring 13.6 points per game. Senior guard Jermaine Wallace is scoring 10 per contest while senior point guard Tyronn Mitchell is three steals shy of breaking the school career mark of 251 by Lester Davis from 1974-78.
Texas State is led by junior forward Charles Dodson, averaging 14 points in SLC action. He had 23 points against the Demons in this season’s first meeting.
“This is a team that played Arkansas to six points, and when we played them earlier this season, they didn’t play poorly. They have good players and a very good coaching staff, and they’ll be highly motivated. We’ve just got to rely on our depth and intensity to carry us as they have to this point,” said McConathy.
Friday's game at UTSA has a 3 o'clock afternoon tip.

Demons can clinch historic back-to-back SLC hoops crowns at home this week

2006-02-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

Mike McConathy wasn't born yet. His uncle George McConathy was playing for the Demons, following in the footsteps of his brothers Johnny (Mike's dad) and Leslie.
It was 52 years ago, the last time Northwestern State won back-to-back basketball conference championships.
This week in Prather Coliseum, that can happen for the first time since coach Red Thomas guided the Demons to Gulf States Conference crowns in 1953 and 1954.
Mike McConathy is now in his seventh year as head coach at NSU. His Demons play host to two of their toughest challengers in the Southland Conference, Lamar's Cardinals on Thursday evening at 6:30 and the McNeese State Cowboys Saturday afternoon at 2.
Northwestern (18-7 overall, 11-1 in the SLC) has a three-game lead over McNeese and Sam Houston State with four games left to play in the conference race.
If the Demons win once this week, they lock up at least a share of their second straight SLC title. Last year, they split the title with Southeastern Louisiana.
Beating both Lamar and McNeese this week makes NSU 11-0 at home this year and outright SLC champions.
It also hands the Demons a second straight 20-win season, also something that hasn't happened at NSU since Marlon Brando won the "Best Actor" Oscar for "On the Waterfront" and Sam Snead was The Masters golf champion -- in 1954.
Next week, the Demons wrap up their regular season on the road at Texas State and Texas-San Antonio. They are assured of hosting at least one round of the O'Reilly Auto Parts SLC Tournament on Tuesday, March 7, and one win this week gets them a host's role for the March 9 semifinals. Two wins assures the Demons have homecourt advantage throughout the tournament.
Saturday afternoon's game is the final regular-season home appearance for seven remarkable seniors: Byron Allen, Alfonse Dyer, Kerwin Forges, Clifton Lee, Tyronn Mitchell, D.J. Ross and Jermaine Wallace. They will be honored in pregame ceremonies.
"It's a big, big week for us," said McConathy. "We're playing two of the best teams in the conference and we have our most important goal, winning the conference championship, on the line. We've earned the opportunity to do that at home where our crowd support, especially from the community and surrounding area, has been great. Now we need to go to work to get it done."
Lamar college basketball team (14-11, 7-5) features the SLC's top scorer, forward Alan Daniels, on a talent-laden roster coached by 70-year-old Billy Tubbs, who has over 600 career wins in two stints at Lamar, along with Oklahoma and TCU.
McNeese (13-10, 8-4) is the SLC's most improved team over last year under former Memphis coach Tic Price and has a season sweep of Sam Houston State, the only team to beat the Demons in a conference game this year.
Northwestern has won eight straight SLC games this season. The Demons are 24-2 overall at Prather Coliseum since the start of last season.
Wallace needs two 3-pointers to break Kenny McMillon's NSU career record of 187. Mitchell is seven steals away from breaking Lester Davis's school career mark of 251, and is seven assists away from passing Davis for third all-time in Demon history in assists.
"That stuff is nice, but only after the season," said Mitchell. "What matters the most is winning. We've got to beat Lamar. That's our next game and our biggest game. Then we'll turn the page and go to McNeese. That’s the way we've done it this year and we're not changing anything now. We want another conference championship and we want to win it at home for the fans."

Demons mark milestone in 81-65 whipping of Indians

2006-02-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

Matching his career scoring high wasn’t that big a deal for Northwestern State senior point guard Tyronn Mitchell.
Senior forward Clifton Lee posted his 11th career double-double, but shrugged it off.
Mitchell, Lee, their Demon basketball teammates and 2,630 NSU fans had better reasons to celebrate Saturday’s 81-65 wire-to-wire win over old rival Louisiana-Monroe.
The outcome gives NSU a 17-6 record, its best mark after 23 games in 40 years.
“That’s a long way from being 6-21 our freshman year,” said Lee, who had 14 points and 12 rebounds. “It’s a great feeling being part of a team like this in a season like this.”
“When I came here, Coach Mike (McConathy) talked about raising the level of this program,” said Mitchell, who pumped in 16 points to go with 5 assists and 3 steals. “This is another step that shows we’re doing it. That’s something to be proud about and it feels really good.”
“Being 17-6 against the schedule we’ve played is just phenomenal,” said McConathy. “It’s a credit to our kids, most of all. We’ve got lots left to do, but we’ve already got some nice accomplishments.”
In their seventh straight win, the ncaa Demons picked up a dozen points from Colby Bargeman among 11 players in the scoring column. NSU used one of its trademark scoring bursts, a 12-1 run over three minutes midway through the second half, to build a commanding 62-46 margin. ULM never got closer than 11 in the final 7:51.
“That’s what we do at some point every game. We get our defensive intensity to a higher level and the flow of our offense gets better,” said Mitchell. “It’s good knowing we can do that.”
Mitchell posted his second straight double-figure scoring total, only his fifth of the season, after mentioning a few days ago he needed to score more to bolster the Demons’ overall offensive approach.
“What I really liked was that Tyronn got what he got within what we do,” said Demons coach Mike McConathy. “He hit some timely baskets before we blew the game open. When your point guard is a threat like he can be, that is a real asset.”
“I’ve looked to give other guys scoring opportunities, maybe at times at my own expense,” said Mitchell. “It’s about winning. I realized if I was more of a scoring threat, it will open more space for the other guys to operate and that’s good for us.”
The victory moved NSU to 10-1 in the SLC with five league games remaining, three on the road. That gives the Demons at least a two-game lead over McNeese State, which carried a 7-3 league mark into a Saturday night game at last-place Texas State.
Lance Brasher scored 18 and Tony Hooper 14 for ULM (9-14 overall, 5-6 in the SLC), which lost for the third time in four games it played during the past week.
“They showed a lot of fight and probably outworked us most of the first half,” said McConathy. “We chipped away and chipped away at them, but they didn’t falter for a long while. I thought Clifton was exceptional, especially in that stretch that blew it open for us, and we got some good contributions from guys like Alfonse Dyer, Kerwin Forges and Keenan Jones, players who didn’t stat out but did a lot to make a difference.”
ULM first-year coach Orlando Early was pleased with his team’s competitiveness considering the Indians’ weariness.
“We’ve had plenty of games where we really struggled to execute and shoot the ball respectably,” he said. “We competed hard and we shot 42 odd percent on the road against the best team in the league in a game where it would have been easy to shut it down once things got tough in the second half. That’s a sign of progress we’ll take with us into the Southeastern (La.) game next Thursday.”
The victory capped a friendly stretch of the schedule in which NSU played five of six SLC games at Prather Coliseum, where the Demons are 9-0 this season and 24-2 since the start of last year. The Demons play three of their last five conference games on the road, beginning Thursday night at upset-prone Nicholls State, 5-1 at home but only 2-11 away from Thibodaux.

Demons cruise past Lumberjacks with defense, strong shooting

2006-02-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

Texas – Northwestern State’s strong start trumped Stephen F. Austin’s resilient rally Saturday afternoon as the league-leading Demons held off the Lumberjacks 72-66 in Southland Conference basketball.
Byron Allen hit all seven of his shots in a 15-point performance and Jermaine Wallace pumped in four 3-pointers for Northwestern (15-6 overall, 8-1 in the SLC). The Demons sank 54 percent of their shots, hitting 52 percent while opening a 32-23 halftime advantage and draining 57 percent afterward to ward off the Lumberjacks (10-9, 3-6).
NSU, winning its fifth straight game, held SFA to 40 percent shooting, including 26 percent in the first half. The Lumberjacks connected on 54 percent in the second half, including making 9 of their first 13 shots to mount a challenge.
SFA got 17 points by Anthony Paez, 14 from Keith Hardaway and 10 by Marcus Clark. The Lumberjacks trailed 50-36 with 12 minutes to go but worked back within four, 59-55, with 5:16 left.
The ncaa Demons got baskets by Allen, Clifton Lee and a 3-pointer by Wallace over the next 1:48 to rebuild a 10-point margin with 3:28 remaining. From there, SFA got no closer than the final margin.
“The defensive effort in the first half was exceptional,” said Demons’ coach Mike McConathy. “We played well in the half-court offense most of the game, also. Wallace seemed to know when we needed him to knock down a 3-pointer, because every one of his four came in clutch situations and helped keep us in control.”
Eleven Demons scored as Northwestern moved to 11-2 on the road in conference play since the start of last year. Backup point guard Keenan Jones had 5 assists and no turnovers in 23 minutes while starter Tyronn Mitchell, 37th nationally in assists with a 5.2 average, was able to play just 14 minutes before fouling out.
“With Tyronn in foul trouble the whole game, Keenan Jones really responded with a very, very solid game and that was key for us,” said McConathy. “Alfonse Dyer didn’t stat out but he did a lot that helped us win today.”
The triumph came in the only road game in a three-week stretch for Northwestern, which will play host to Louisiana-Monroe next week.
“It was especially good to get a road win when we have been at home for three straight games,” said McConathy. “We knew with a week to prepare for us, (SFA coach) Danny Kaspar would have them primed and as usual, it was a real struggle to get this one in the W-column against SFA.”
Lee was held to 5 points but grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds for the Demons, who sank 9 of 17 on 3-pointers and rebounded from a miserable 22-of-39 free throw outing Thursday night in a win over Sam Houston State to make 68 odd percent (13-19) Saturday.

Demons cruise by Bobcats 89-71 to give McConathy 100th win milestone

2006-02-01T11:45:00.000-08:00

Clifton Lee’s 16 points led four double-digit scorers and 13 Northwestern State wagering players with points Saturday afternoon as the Southland Conference basketball leaders cruised past last-place Texas State 89-71, handing coach Mike McConathy his 100th career victory with the Demons.
Northwestern (13-6 overall, 6-1 in the SLC) picked up 12 points off the bench by Kerwin Forges while Luke Rogers and Jermaine Wallace each added 10. The Demons used all 15 available players, and the only two who failed to score played just the final minute.
Texas State (2-15, 0-6) got game-best totals of 24 points and 11 rebounds from Charles Dotson, while Trevor Cook scored 11 and Brandon Bush 10.
McConathy became the first to post 100 wins among six head coaches at Northwestern whose tenure began since the Demons joined NCAA Division I in the 1976-77 season. His 100 wins, in seven seasons, came faster than any coach at Northwestern since Huey Cranford won his 100th game in the eighth game of his seventh season in 1963-64.
It was career win No. 451 including his victory total in 16 seasons at Bossier Parish Community College. Northwestern is on track to post its fourth winning record in McConathy’s seven seasons, an impressive feat considering the Demons had only five winning seasons in 23 years of Division I basketball when he was hired as coach.
In the final half-minute of the game, when the 100th win milestone was announced to the crowd, the 2,330 fans gave him a standing ovation while a large group held up signs reading “thanks for 100, Coach Mike.”
The outcome was hardly in doubt in the final 13 minutes. Texas State college basketball team stayed close much of the first half during six lead changes and four ties, but Northwestern went on a 15-1 tear over the final 4:08 of the half to post a 42-28 lead at intermission.
The Bobcats made a couple of early runs after halftime, drawing within four on three occasions in the first six minutes. But a 10-0 burst over 2:57 carried the Demons into their biggest lead of the contest at the time, 60-46 spread, with 12:50 remaining and Texas State never got closer than 12 afterward.
The margin was 20, 68-48, with 8:17 to go but never got larger than 21 in the final minute as Northwestern notched 45 points from non-starters, including the first 6 points of freshman Kalem Porterie’s college career.
Northwestern sank 48 percent of its shots from the field, overcoming 39 percent first-half shooting with 61 percent aim in the second half. The Demons made 78 odd percent (18-23) of their free throws and forced 24 Texas State turnovers, converting them into 28 points.
The outcome raised NSU’s homecourt record to 6-0 this season heading into a Thursday night rematch in Prather Coliseum with Sam Houston State, who handed the Demons their only SLC defeat, 80-73, on Jan. 14.
The 18-point victory was the 16th in 18 games for the Demons against SLC foes and the eighth-straight regular-season SLC victory at home for NSU. The Demons moved to 20-2 in Prather Coliseum since the beginning of last season and have won 24 of their last 31 games overall.