TULSA, Okla. – Now that Northwestern State has a little wind back in its sails following a road win Thursday night, the Demons' basketball team tries to regain some credibility in the Southland Conference and build some momentum going into a four-game homestand by posting a Saturday afternoon triumph at Oral Roberts.

Tip time is 3:30 for the contest between the Demons (6-11 overall, 2-4 in the Southland) and the Golden Eagles (10-9, 4-2). The game will be televised on FCS Atlantic network available to DirecTV subscribers at channel 626. It will also be broadcast on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches and including 99.9 KTEZ FM in Many and 92.1 KSYR FM in Shreveport. Audio of the radio broadcast is available for free on NSUDemons.com.

The matchup features the league's top two scorers, Oral Roberts' senior guard Shawn Glover (21.1 points per game) and NSU sophomore point guard Jalan West (19.1). West leads the Southland in assists (6.0), steals (2.7) and free throw percentage (85.7), and is coming off a 28-point outing with 5 of 7 aim on 3-pointers and 11 of 13 accuracy at the free throw line in Thursday's 76-68 win at Central Arkansas.

Oral Roberts had a three-game win streak snapped at home Thursday night as league-leading Stephen F. Austin took its first lead of the second half with 33 seconds remaining in a 72-69 victory.

The Demons have shifted gears, throttling back on their wide-open offensive thrust to focus on defense in the last two games. NSU has held UCA and SFA to a combined 40 percent shooting rate and 71 points per game, 20 points less than Demon foes were scoring in the season's first 15 games.

"We really have made progress on the defensive end," said Northwestern coach Mike McConathy. "We couldn't keep going down the road we were on. We are not getting away from who we are offensively as much as we are trying to get back to who we've been defensively when we've been successful."

NSU got a double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) from senior forward DeQuan Hicks at UCA, upping his season averages to 16.2 points and 7.4 rebounds. Two other veterans had much-improved outings: senior guard Gary Stewart, who hurt a knee in the season's third game at LSU after scoring 23 a game earlier in a win at Auburn, had 7 points, his best outing since LSU, while junior center Marvin Frazier contributed 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

McConathy said the kind of tenacity his team showed at UCA while holding the lead for the final 33 minutes, winning for the first time in four tries, will be vital to the Demons' chances against Oral Roberts.

"Year after year, ORU plays a hard-nosed, smart brand of basketball. We had two really intense, quality battles against them last season, and if we'll come ready to work, that's the kind of game we can expect to be a part of Saturday afternoon," he said. "Getting a win under our belts was much needed. We still have 12 conference games left and there's a lot of opportunity for us to climb in the standings if we will continue to commit ourselves on the defensive end."

The Demons come home next week for games against Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian and will also host McNeese State and Nicholls State in the four-game homestand ending Feb. 8.