Northwestern races to 30-10 lead, 51-33 halftime lead, but can't put away NAIA's No. 2 team
December 15, 2005
NATCHITOCHES — Northwestern State raced to an early 20-point lead but couldn’t put away NAIA power LSU-Shreveport, getting 17 points from Byron Allen and 16 by Clifton Lee to pace a sluggish 92-82 victory over the visiting Pilots Wednesday night before 2,103 at Prather Coliseum.
The Demons (6-2), winning for the third straight time in a streak that began nine days earlier with a 68-64 upset at Oklahoma State, bolted to a 30-10 lead and went up 51-33 at halftime. LSU-Shreveport, ranked third in NAIA Division I, shot 63 percent after halftime and outrebounded Northwestern 25-14 while getting as close as eight points.
Keenan Jones and Luke Rogers each added 13 points for the Demons, who picked up 9 points, 12 assists and 5 steals by point guard Tyronn Mitchell.
Josh Porter led LSU-S with 23 points, while Jeremy Johnson added 19, Shadrach Roome 14 and Anton Palmer 10.
The game was a regular season outing for the NCAA Division I Demons, who are defending Southland Conference co-champions, but was counted as an exhibition game for the Pilots, who are 12-1 in NAIA games.
LSU-S cut a 17-point deficit with 10:31 remaining under 10 points for the first time, 76-67 with 8:15 to go on a 3-pointer by Freddy Hughes. The Pilots moved within eight points at 78-70 on a 3-pointer by Porter with 7:15 left but the Demons rebuilt a 14-point advantage. The visitors got as close as nine points twice in the final 1:35 but were unable to tighten the score any further.
Northwestern won for the 16th time in 19 outings dating back to last season.
(Story courtesy of NSU sports information)
