Demons Edge Gents in Hoops!

NATCHITOCHES - Junior forward Trey Gilder scored a career-high 25 points Tuesday night, including two free throws with four seconds left to help Northwestern State hold off Centenary 89-86 to extend the nations sixth-longest homecourt winning streak to 17. The Demons, winning their third straight, improved to 4-2 while posting their third straight win over Centenary (2-4) in the states oldest active college basketball rivalry, dating back to 1922. Almost overcoming an 11-point deficit with 3:42 remaining, the Gentlemen had a chance to force overtime on the games last play, but 18-point scorer Tyrone Hamilton was off the mark on a spinning 3-point try off an inbounds pass with 0.6 seconds left. Gilder spearheaded prolific production by the Demons bench. Northwesterns non-starters outscored their Centenary counterparts 51-32, including a 20-3 advantage over the last 12 minutes in a game featuring eight ties and 12 lead changes. Sophomore guard Keithan Hancock added a career-best 11 points in 10 minutes off the bench for NSU, which had 11 players get at least nine minutes while 10 scored. Senior point guard Kennan Jones, second in the nation in assists with an 8.4 average, scored 12 points and had six assists for NSU. Along with Hamilton, Centenary had four more players in double figures, getting 16 apiece from Alexander Starr, Bryan Baumann and Larry Logan. Nick Stallings added 11 for the Gentlemen.