USIU Fails to Exorcise the Demons

Northwestern State University may have “one of the weakest teams from back down South,” but the team was good enough to beat U.S. International University, which was handed its 11th consecutive loss and seventh in as many games this year at Golden Hall, 91-82.

The Demons (2-7), who were led by Jethro Owens’ 20 points and 11 rebounds, merely had to shoot 50% from the field, because USIU (1-15) was cold as usual, shooting 40% from the floor in front a home crowd of 267. Many of those fans came to see Gull guard Kevin Bradshaw possibly tie or set a scoring record.

Bradshaw, a senior playing his second season at USIU, needed 41 points to surpass Joe Yezbak as the school’s career scoring leader. Bradshaw, who finished with 40 to tie Yezbak at 1,380. With 20 seconds left, Bradshaw had 38 points when he was awarded three free-throws after being fouled while attempting a three-point shot. Bradshaw made the first and third shots. The second shot went in and out.

Bradshaw, who had 14 points in the first half, again tried to rally the Gulls in the second half. During one stretch, he scored 15 points in less than five minutes. But, as has been the case the entire season, Bradshaw, who came in averaging 31 points a game, found no cause for celebration after reaching another milestone.

Instead, he scolded his teammates.

“I can’t even think about (the record) now,” said Bradshaw, a Florida native. “I’m too frustrated from losing to one of the weakest teams from back down South. We should have beat them, I think, by 15 points. We have some guys on this team that just need to step up and grow up.

“Before, we had excuses. We were worried about whether or not we going to play the rest of the year’s games (as the school filed for bankruptcy). There’s no longer any excuses. This is the real world. It’s time to play some ball.”

USIU also wasted another strong effort by Isaac Brown, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard who played power forward for the second consecutive game and came through with 22 points and nine rebounds. In Saturday’s loss against Baylor, Brown had 14 points and 16 rebounds. But opportunity keeps slipping through the Gulls’ hands, just as the ball slipped out of Brown’s hands as he tried to dunk late in the second half.

Owens, who had nine field goals, six of them dunks, answered at the other end with a thundering jam that gave the Demons at 70-62 lead. The four-point swing also prompted Gull Coach Gary Zarecky to toss a towel over his shoulder, a symbolic gesture.

“I think we lost this game yesterday,” said Brown, who described the Gulls’ mind set as a “mental hurricane. Our practice was horrible and it carried over. We could have beat this team by 30 points.”

For the second consecutive game, USIU enjoyed an early lead only to let it slip away by halftime. The Gulls, who trailed at the half, 41-38, led by as many as seven early and climbed back from a seven-point deficit to lead, 54-53, in the second half when Bradshaw nailed one of his four three-point shots. But Northwestern State pulled ahead for good at the 11:33 mark when Owens hit two free throws.

Said Bradshaw: “I think they (his teammates took the Demons) too lightly. We took a seven-point lead and let it go. They had more heart. We lacked intensity.”