NATCHITOCHES – Their first meeting produced the highest-scoring regulation game this season in college basketball, so although Northwestern State has won five of its last six games, the Demons aren't remotely taking anything for granted going into Monday night's matchup in Prather Coliseum against Central Arkansas.
 
NSU (13-10 overall, 8-4 in the Southland) rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit for a 110-108 victory Feb. 3 at Central Arkansas (1-21, 1-10), dodging becoming the Bears' first victim under new head coach Russ Pennell.
 
UCA shot in the 70 percent range much of that contest, including a stretch early after halftime when the Bears bombed in five straight 3-pointers, and six in seven baskets, during an amazing 24-3 run over six minutes that flipped the score from 56-47 NSU to 71-59 UCA with 12:18 remaining.
 
"Looking at the final score, it sounds crazy, but defense truly won that game for us. They had an incredible run and got 12 up on us, but our full court pressure created turnovers and points for us that allowed us to get back on top," said Demons' coach Mike McConathy. "They battled for 40 minutes and will come in here confident about being able to get after us again."
 
UCA won its next game. Although the Bears have dropped their last two, McConathy said they're playing their best basketball and create matchup challenges for the Demons with their system.
 
"No doubt about it. They're very different, because they run five-man motion and they have a very big, good player inside who is a difficult matchup for us. Jalan (West, NSU's point guard) ended up fronting him several times, 5-10 on 6-9, and we were able to keep the ball from getting to him because we had good ball pressure on their guards."
 
The Demons rebounded from a 93-82 loss to league-leading Stephen F. Austin last Monday by rallying after halftime Saturday and holding off McNeese State 75-72 on the road. While West (17 points) and Zeek Woodley (18) topped NSU's scoring, McConathy was pleased by contributions from throughout the roster, including a season/career high seven rebounds in his eighth game as a Demon by 6-10 transfer Deji Adekunle.
 
"Without (senior center) Marvin Frazier (benched indefinitely with an ankle injury), we've needed Deji to rise up and he made his first big impact against McNeese," said McConathy. "We got key contributions from everybody who was out there, guys like Devonte Hall (who blocked McNeese's last-chance bid for a tying 3-pointer, and scored eight points), Matt Killian (eight points), Tra'von Joseph (six second-half points) and Sabri Thompson (two key assists), and got a tough win on the road."
 
Woodley hit a critical 17-foot jumper off a West assist with 59 seconds left that may have been the day's biggest basket, preventing McNeese from having the ball with a chance to take the lead in the closing minute.
 
The sophomore swingman is third nationally with his 22.0 scoring average. West is 35^th at 18.7 per game.
 
UCA is led by Jordan Howard's 16.0 average.
 
The contest is the last home appearance of the month for the Demons, second nationally with their 84.1 scoring average. NSU will visit New Orleans and Nicholls next weekend and has home dates March 2 against Southeastern Louisiana and March 7 with UNO remaining.
 
Monday night's contest can be heard on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 KZBL in Natchitoches and including SportsTalk 100.7 FM and SuperTalk 1340 AM KRMD in Shreveport, and KWLA 103.1 FM in Anacoco. Free audio is available at NSUDemons.com and SuperTalk1340.com. Pay-per-view or subscription video is available at NSUDemons.com.