Northwestern State rolls over New Orleans, 88-78

Mar 7, 2015, 07:08 pm

NATCHITOCHES, La. -- Jalan West scored 33 points and Northwestern State wrapped up a share of third place in the Southland Conference with an 88-78 win over New Orleans Saturday.

Northwestern State (18-11, 13-5) finished the regular season tied with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and the Islanders earn the No. 3 seed into the conference tournament based on tiebreaker criteria. Northwestern State is the No. 4 seed. Both have a first-round bye and play Thursday in Katy, Texas.

West scored eight of the Demons' final 18 points in the first half for a 52-35 halftime lead and cruised to the finish line.

West was 10 of 16 from the field, including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc, grabbed eight rebounds and dished off nine assists. Zeek Woodley added 18 points and Matt Killian 11.

New Orleans (10-17, 6-12) qualified for the conference tournament, but four teams entered Saturday tied at 6-11 and tiebreaking criteria will decide seeds 7 through 9.