No. 5 Northwestern State downs No.8 TAMU-CC in first round of Southland Conference tournament

Story and photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

KATY, TEXAS (March 11, 2020) In the first game of the 2020 Hercules Tires Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, No. 5 Northwestern State downed No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by the score of 79-62 in front of a scant crowd at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. With the win, the Demons will next face No. 4 Sam Houston State on Thursday, March 12 with a 5 p.m. CDT tip-off.

The game will be played with few, if any fans in attendance, as the Southland Conference announced during the game, that it will limit attendance beginning Thursday morning due to precautions related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

"Beginning with Thursday's women's first round and men's second round games, arena entry will be restricted to participating teams, game officials, tournament staff, spirit groups (at each institution's discretion), credentialed media, other support personnel, and family members included on the team's official pass list. There will be no entry allowed for ticket holders and no opportunity to purchase tickets at the Merrell Center." (from the Southland Conference Press Release)

Against the Islanders the Demons jumped out to a 41-36 lead, after trailing early in the first half, due to the shooting of Chudier Bile (Denver, Colorado/Bradley). The 6-7 junior forward tallied 17 points in just over 24 minutes of play. He was joined by junior starting guard Jarius Roberson (Dallas, Texas, Trinity Valley Community College), who also scored 17 points, and Brian White, who added 13.  Bile a;sp pulled down eight rebounds, to lead the Demons. For the Islanders, Jordan Hairston came off the bench to score 19 points, along with five rebounds'; with Perry Francois adding 10.

TAMU-CC head back home with a 14-18 season record and an early exit from the tournament. The past two years, The Islanders have advanced to the conference tournament; only to be ousted in the first round by Central Arkansas (73-53) in 2019 and New Orleans (83-76) in 2018.

As far as the Demons, the win was the first in SLC tournament play since 2015, when the beat McNeese 96-89 in the second round; only to fall to eventual tournament champions Stephen F. Austin (91-79) in the semi-finals