Privateers Come up Just Short in 87-84 Thriller at Lakefront Arena

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NEW ORLEANS, La. – It came down to the wire for the New Orleans men's basketball team on Saturday night, but it was ultimately a buzzer-beater three-pointer from Northwestern State that put the Demons on top in Southland Conference action, 87-84.
 
New Orleans (7-15, 3-10 SLC) put together a 21-0 run in the first half to take the lead over Northwestern (15-10, 10-4 SLC) before the Demons stormed back, tying things up before the bank-shot three put the game away as time expired.
 
"I'm proud of how our guys fought tonight," said New Orleans head coach Mark Slessinger. "What I am disappointed in is how many points we gave up in the second half. We wanted to keep the score in the 60-70-point range but we just didn't get that done."
 
Coming out into the second half New Orleans quickly jumped out to its largest lead of the night at 21 points, going on a 9-2 run to start things off with a dunk by Kevin Hill setting the Privateers on top, 57-36, through the first two minutes.
 
But Northwestern's potent offense found its legs, going on a 36-11 run to dwindle away the New Orleans' lead, tying things at 68 with 7:52 on the clock. Tevin Broyles brought the Privateers back up by seven, hitting a basket and the foul shot to make it an 81-74 game with just over four minutes to go.
 
The Demons then went on a 7-0 run, tying things up once again at 81 with three to play as the game went down to the wire all tied up at 84 before Jalan West hit the game-winner for the Demons.
 
While the Privateers outscored the Demons by 14 in the first, the Demons took the final 20 minutes, outscoring New Orleans 53-36.
 
Following the opening tip it was Northwestern that controlled things in the early portions, going up by nine points at the 12:23 mark at 17-8. But New Orleans responded in a big way, a Michael Zeno free throw sparking off a 21-0 run for the home team to give the Privateers a 29-17 lead with 5:36 to play.
 
The Demons managed to get the Privateer lead down to 10 after clipping off three straight points down the final few minutes of the first, but the Privateers held strong, going into the break with a 48-38 lead.
 
New Orleans outscored Northwestern 40-20 after the 12:23 mark lead from the Demons to take the big halftime edge with Nate Frye, Brown and Christavious Gill all scoring in double figures through the first 20 mintues.
 
Frye was tops with his 22 points, the second time he has hit the 22-point mark this season, while Gill was good for 15 points and Brown and Hill each tipped in 11.
 
Frye also ended with six assists and nine rebounds while Thibodeaux was the leading rebounder with his 10.
 
The Privateers shot 50-percent from the field as a team while also putting in 24 free throws on the night.
 
On the boards, it was all New Orleans as the Privateers hauled in 40 boards while limiting the Demons to just 32.
 
New Orleans again has a quick Saturday-to-Monday turnaround, playing again on Feb. 23 at Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m. CT.

To keep up with the latest New Orleans men' basketball news, follow the team on Twitter @UNOPrivateers and @Privateers_MBB or by liking New Orleans Privateers on Facebook.