THIBODAUX – So how do you top making a 53-foot, buzzer-beating shot going into halftime?

In the rare case of Jalan West and the Northwestern State basketball team, you recover from a 21-point deficit in the second half, and win with a banked-in, off-balance, 27-foot 3-pointer at the final horn.

Those were the two sensational scores in West's 36-point outing Saturday night that netted a remarkable 87-84 victory at New Orleans and kept the Demons on a roll heading into Monday night's Southland Conference visit to Nicholls.

After winning its third straight and seventh in the last eight games, NSU (15-10 overall, 10-4 in the Southland) will try to complete the season sweep of Nicholls (7-16, 4-9) in a 6:30 game at Stopher Gym.

It could be a milestone-heavy game for the Demons, West and the other half of college basketball's most explosive tandem, sophomore 6-2 swingman Zeek Woodley. A win can clinch NSU a first-round bye in next month's Southland Conference Tournament, combined with a loss to UNO by Southeastern Louisiana.

Woodley is just three points shy of becoming the first sophomore in school history to post 1,000 career points. Playing his 57^th college game, the country's No. 2 scorer (22.6 average) will likely become the second-fastest Demon to reach 1,000. Before freshmen were eligible, Vernon Wilson did it in 48 games late in his junior season of 1971-72.

West, fifth nationally with a 7.3 assists average, is nine dimes away from NSU's career assists record (552, Ryan Bundy, 1994-98) with at least five games remaining this year, along with his senior season next winter.

If he does it Monday night, it likely won't end up No. 2 on ESPN's SportsCenter Top 10 Plays, as his pair of bombs did overnight Saturday.  

West's 36 points, 21 after halftime, matched his career high and gave him seven 30-point outings with the Demons, three this season. It also raised his scoring average to 19.0, 29^th nationally. The win over UNO gave the Demons sole possession of third in the 13-team league with four games remaining.

"Great players make great plays," said McConathy. "Jalan and Zeek are those kind of guys. But we had a bunch of players who made winning plays for us in that second half, even down to Deji Adekunle guarding an inbounds pass. One play makes the difference in games like this and it's not just the game-winning shot.

"We don't get to that point without a lot of plays made by a lot of people," he said.

The Demons shot 58 percent after halftime and drained 11 of 13 free throws after making just half of 16 in the first period. They also got a fierce push from 6-5 sophomore Tra'von Joseph, who had 14 points and nine rebounds in the last 20 minutes for his second straight double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds) and third this season. Joseph has helped NSU compensate as 6-8 senior center Marvin Frazier hasn't played this month due to an ankle injury.

McConathy wasn't concerned about the quick turnaround with another road game ahead Monday night.

"We only played 20 minutes (one half) tonight," he said at UNO. "And if you're any kind of competitor, this is the time when you can't wait to get back out there."

The Demons pounded Nicholls 80-51 on Jan. 26 in Natchitoches. The Colonels dropped their third straight Saturday night at Stephen F. Austin 86-71.

The game will be broadcast on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 KZBL in Natchitoches and including Sports Talk 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.
 
NSU will get the rest of the week off after the Nicholls game, then starts a busy final week of the regular season at home on Monday, March 2 against Southeastern Louisiana. After a March 5 trip to SFA, the Demons will host UNO on March 7 to cap the regular season.