NEW ORLEANS – Four players scored in double figures and the New Orleans Privateers finished the month of January with a flourish as they defeated the Northwestern State Demons 75-64 on Saturday at Lakefront Arena.
New Orleans led for the rest of the first half after a spurt put them in front with just over 10 minutes in the first half. The Privateers led 33-30 at the break, but Northwestern State countered with the first eight points of the second half to jump ahead.
After a quick timeout, the Privateers settled in around a balanced scoring effort that was keyed in the second half by
Jakevion Buckley and
Kedrick Osby who each accounted for 11 points.
New Orleans (9-13, 7-6) also cut down on the turnovers in the second half. After 10 miscues in the opening 20 minutes, the Privateers committed just three turnovers in the second half.
Osby hit threes on back-to-back possessions to put New Orleans ahead 39-38 with 16:42 left. The Privateers never trailed and they expanded their lead to as much as 11 points on two occasions.
Northwestern State (6-15, 4-8) got back to within four points on a Micah Thomas layup with 2:20 left, but that was as close as they got. Buckley made four late free throws,
Coleton Benson hit a three-pointer and
Churchill Abass produced a monster dunk to put the exclamation point on a win that vaulted the Privateers to 7-6 in conference.
The Privateers trailed narrowly out of the gate, but hit a 9-0 run to take an 18-12 lead near the halfway point of the first half. Four different Privateers scored in that stretch that started with a pair of
MJ Thomas free throws.
New Orleans led for the remainder of the first half and had an advantage as big as seven points when they were up 29-22 with 2:54 left until the break. The Privateers dominated the boards in the first half as they had a 22-12 advantage and they held the Demons to a 34 percent clip from the field.
Thomas had 20 points to lead all Demons scorers and Northwestern State shot 51 percent in the second half.
INSIDE THE BOX
Buckley finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Benson and Osby each had 13 points. Abass finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. New Orleans had an 18-6 advantage in second chance points and out-rebounded the Demons 40-28 on the evening.
NEXT UP
The Privateers will travel to East Texas A&M on Monday night.
BLUES ON TUES. NEWSLETTER
To keep up with all athletics news at the University of New Orleans, subscribe
here for our weekly newsletter.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow @PrivateesrHoops on
Twitter and
Instagram, like /PrivateersHoops on Facebook and subscribe to the
PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
