After a 74-83 loss on Feb. 17 against the Southeastern Lions, the Islanders men’s basketball team is preparing for their quick turnaround for their Homecoming face-off against the Northwestern State Demons.

Though it was a hard-fought battle, the Lions landed on top due to their impressive 31 for 33 from the free-throw line coupled with Lion’s guard/forward Gus Okafor’s career-high 32 point 13 rebound turnout.

“The game honors toughness. Those guys never relented and that needs to be our mantra as well,” Lutz said in a post-game press conference.

In the game against the Lions, Isaac Mushila, junior forward for the Islanders, boasted a 17 point 11 rebound double-double. Other notable players include Trevian Tennyson, junior guard, with 16 points and 2 rebounds, and De’Kazarus Keys, senior forward, with 12 points and 9 rebounds.

“Those guys have been very consistent for us the past few games. I continue to praise those guys for playing hard and rebounding. To be quite honest with you, we need to get more performance from our guard’s play,” Lutz said.

The Islanders are now looking ahead to their next game, preparing to come out victorious against Northwestern State. The Islanders have battled the Demons twice before in the season. The Homecoming matchup will act as the tie-breaker in a 1-1 season record against the team. 

“We’ve got a two-day turnaround and we have to be ready to play on Saturday afternoon at 5 o’clock,” stated Lutz.

The Islanders match-up against Northwestern State for their Homecoming game will take place at 5 p.m. on Feb. 19. The tip-off follows the 1 p.m. women’s game and the 3 p.m. block party, all taking place at downtown’s American Bank Center.

Source for stats: https://goislanders.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021-22/southeastern/boxscore/6579