LAKE CHARLES – Northwestern State's basketball team has been in position to win in its last two games, but hasn't finished strong yet heading into Saturday's visit to friendly Southland Conference rival McNeese State.
 
Tip time is 3 p.m. following a 1 o'clock women's matchup between the schools. Both the Demons (3-13 overall, 0-6 in the Southland) and Cowboys (3-12, 1-4) have shown signs of improvement lately and one will be rewarded with a revitalizing victory Saturday.
 
NSU was within four points in the final two minutes of each of its past two games. McNeese upset previous league unbeaten Sam Houston State last Saturday in its last home outing at Burton Coliseum.
 
"The key factor for them is if they shoot the ball well," said Demons' coach Mike McConathy. "They're tough minded, they're going to compete. That's true of any Dave Simmons team. It's going to be a battle."
 
McConathy, in his 17^th year, enjoyed having Simmons as his assistant coach from 1999-2006 before McNeese handed him its head coaching post. On the McNeese staff is Natchitoches native David Dumars. NSU's top assistant is Jeff Moore, whose father Nooky Moore was a McNeese assistant under legendary coach Ralph Ward, a Natchitoches native.
 
"We enjoy playing McNeese until one of us has to lose," said McConathy. "We have the highest admiration for Dave and his guys and there's not much in the way of secrets in strategy. It just comes down to which team plays better that day."
 
Instead of being frustrated by losing two tight games, McConathy sees the Demons on the upswing.
 
"We're playing with more purpose and passion. Sometimes you get sick and tired of being sick and tired, and that's what I see we're doing right now," he said. "The kids are disheartened, we're disheartened, but we're further improved than we were two weeks ago. If we had been playing this hard two weeks ago, we would have wins under our belt and we'd have momentum. I think the players have begun to accept being coached.
 
"You win one, you never know what might happen. This team could turn it on a dime. It's just a matter of continuing to improve and believe," said McConathy.
 
NSU has the Southland's best scorer, junior swingman Zeek Woodley, who is averaging 21.8 points per game, 14^th nationally. He's also the team's top rebounder with a 5.1 average. True freshman center Ishmael Lane surged with an 18-point, 11-rebound outing Tuesday against league unbeaten Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and is averaging 11.8 points and 5.1 rebounds. Junior Academic All-America candidate Sabri Thompson is scoring 11.1 per game while sophomore point guard Devonte Hall is 28th nationally in assists with a 5.7 average.
 
McNeese, which starts a pair of true freshmen, is led by junior guard Jamaya Burr (15.0 ppg) and senior 6-7, 250-pound forward Craig McFerrin (9.4 points, 7.2 rebounds per game).
 
The game also marks the start of the "east division" portion of NSU's schedule, with 10 of the 12 remaining games against state teams or Central Arkansas.
 
Radio coverage of Saturday's doubleheader is on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 FM KZBL of Natchitoches and including 92.1 KSYR FM in Shreveport and 103.1 FM KWLA serving Many and Leesville. Free audio is at NSUDemons.com with a pay-per-view video stream available at McNeeseSports.com.
 
The Demons will wrap up a stretch of five road games in six outings on Monday night when they visit Nicholls. NSU begins a three-game homestand next Saturday afternoon against Southeastern Louisiana.