Northwestern State rallies past Texas A&M-CC 66-63 in Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinal

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — Love Bettis had 17 points and Micah Thomas hit a go-ahead 3-pointer late and scored 15 to rally Northwestern State to a 66-63 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday in a Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinal.

The fourth-seeded Demons (17-15) advance to play No. 1 seed McNeese in a Tuesday semifinal.

Dion Wright-Forde made two free throws with 1:13 remaining to pull the fifth-seeded Islanders (20-14) even at 63. Thomas buried his shot with 17 seconds left. Owen Dease and Wright-Forde missed 3-pointers in the final nine seconds with a chance to tie.

Bettis shot 5 for 10 (3 for 5 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line for the Demons. Thomas hit three 3-pointers. Landyn Jumawan added 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Islanders were led by Wright-Forde with 15 points. Garry Clark totaled 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Dease scored 10.

Northwestern State went into halftime leading 38-28 behind 12 points from Bettis.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.