NATCHITOCHES – There was something for nearly everybody in Monday night's 92-79 Northwestern State win over visiting Southeastern Louisiana that tipped off a busy final week of the Southland Conference basketball regular-season.
 
As the Demons (17-10 overall, 12-4 in the Southland) won their season-high fifth straight and their ninth in 10 tries, they threatened the school single-game record for 3-pointers, finishing one shy as they drained 16 of 34 treys.
 
NSU mounted a season-best run of 23 unanswered points that turned an early six-point deficit into a 17-point first-half lead. The Demons expanded a 44-31 halftime advantage into a 51-31 spread in the first 86 seconds of the second half.
 
But the Lions (9-20, 6-10) roared back with a valiant 23-4 run within 55-54 with 13:23 remaining.
 
Almost on cue, NSU responded with 10 unanswered points. SLU got no closer than seven afterward, and trailed by as much as 18 in the final two minutes after the Demons emptied the bench.
 
Six players tossed in at least one 3-pointer, with Sabri Thompson posting a career-high 18 points while going 4 of 7 on treys in a 16-point second half. Tony Dobbinson had 14 of his 16 points, his second career double-figure game, by halftime, finishing 4 of 6 behind the arc.
 
The NCAA's No. 2 scorer, Zeek Woodley, hit 3 of 4 long balls in a 21-point outing and added a game-high three steals.
 
Jalan West posted his 10^th career double-double, his fifth of the season, with 13 points and 10 assists, and also snagged six rebounds and two steals while suffering just one early turnover. He popped in 3 of 5 treys, including a 30-footer to beat the shot clock late in the second.
 
NSU's previous best 3-point production was 11 makes in three other Southland games. Scoring more than half their points behind the arc, the Demons sniped away from distance while padding their NCAA-best 84.1 scoring average by three-tenths.
 
"I liked how those 3-pointers came in the flow of our offense," said coach Mike McConathy. "They were good shots and our guys expect to make good shots. It was great to see so many guys contribute to that and spreading it around, and the way we moved the ball, had something to do with how effective we were on the 3s."
 
Seven Demons made a steal as NSU built a 30-12 advantage in points off turnovers, with the Lions suffering 23 miscues.
 
"When you shoot like that, other things get overshadowed," said McConathy, "and one was how we were able to bother them into steals and other mistakes."
 
But SLU, playing its second game without leading scorer Zay Jackson, sank 53 percent overall and got a game-high 25 points from Cedric Jenkins, with Onochie Ochie and DeVonte Upson each scoring 16 while Daniel Grieves, whose parents have degrees from NSU, added 12 points and five rebounds. His father, Danny, was a Demon graduate assistant coach while his mother, Kim Paulk, was a hard-nosed Lady Demon fan favorite in the mid-1980s.
 
"You credit Southeastern," said McConathy.  "Coach (Jay) Ladner knows what he's doing and even short-handed, those guys fought very hard and did some very good things. A lot of teams would fold down 20 on the road, but they got back within one and even though we got control again, they hung tough. Our hats are off to them."
 
The Demons posted their 16^th straight win, dating back to early in the 2013 conference season, over an in-state Southland foe. They also got 13 minutes from senior center Marvin Frazier, who hit a 3-pointer in his first action in a month, since injuring an ankle in an 88-73 win at SLU on Jan. 31.
 
The game was the first of three in five days for NSU, which goes to league-leading Stephen F. Austin Thursday and wraps up the regular-season at home Saturday when New Orleans visits for a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Prather Coliseum.