BEAUMONT, Texas – For the Northwestern State basketball team, less means more.

As the Demons' active roster has dwindled to eight available scholarship players because of injury and illness, including emergency surgery, the squad has been undaunted.

NSU (9-9 overall, 3-4 in the Southland Conference) has posted two straight double-digit road wins, looking sharp in each, heading into a third road test Saturday afternoon at Lamar.

The Demons line up against the Cardinals (12-9, 4-4) at 4:30 in the Montagne Center following a 2 p.m. women's contest between the schools. Both games will be carried on ESPN3.

Already without leading scorer Zeek Woodley and rising sophomore Malik Metoyer due to late December injuries, NSU lost another key cog overnight Tuesday. Freshman point guard Josh Boyd had an emergency appendectomy that could sideline him for a couple of weeks. That trio combines for a 31-point scoring average.

Boyd had a key burst of 11 straight points in a second-half run last Saturday to help the Demons win 78-65 at McNeese. Despite his loss, the Demons took control after halftime again on Wednesday night, dumping Southeastern Louisiana 85-71 and ending the Lions' 16-game homecourt win streak.

"Our guys have shown the toughness required to deal with adversity like missing some key players," said Demons' coach Mike McConathy. "We've talked about less meaning more – more effort, more defense, more rebounding, more ball movement, more belief in each other and our system.

"Collectively we can get it done. Wednesday night, Southeastern had been outrebounding their opponents by four a game, and we beat them on the boards by 16 (39-23). They were giving up under 70 points a game, and we scored 85. Our guys are playing well together and everyone is making an impact," he said.

At SLU, junior guard Devonte Hall scored a career-best 28, 24 after halftime, making 14 of 17 free throws. Freshman post Jordan Bell had a breakout game with his first double-double, 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Demons shot a season-high 81 percent (25-31) on the free throw line, raising their rate in league play to 71 percent.

NSU has seven players scoring between 17 and 7 points in Southland games, including the sidelined Boyd (10.8). Senior Sabri Thompson tops the list (17.4) followed by Hall (13.9), senior Tra'von Joseph (10.9), Boyd, sophomore Ishmael Lane (8.9), junior Iziahiah Sweeney (8.7) and Bell (6.7).

Lamar features the reigning conference player of the week, forward Colton Weisbrod, the league's top rebounder (8.9 average) and sixth-leading scorer (15.4). The Cardinals lead the Southland with their 78.1 scoring average overall, but the Demons are tops in league play only with a 78.7 average compared to Lamar's 72.9 (sixth in the 13-team Southland).

The Demons have won three of their last four games and were within a basket in the final 30 seconds in the loss, to preseason favorite Sam Houston State. The Cardinals have dropped three of their last four, two on the road, and fell at home Wednesday night in overtime 69-66 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. It was their second overtime loss in eight league games.

The contest will be carried on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches and including 92.1 KSYR FM in Shreveport and 103.1 FM KWLA in Sabine Parish.

The Demons will be at home again next Saturday afternoon against Stephen F. Austin, after next Thursday night's visit to Central Arkansas wraps up the string of four consecutive road games.