NEW ORLEANS – With the middle of the 18-game Southland Conference basketball season approaching Saturday for Northwestern State, the Demons are looking for a spark to make a charge on the back nine.


With two of the next three games against third-place New Orleans, beginning Wednesday night at 7 in UNO's Lakefront Arena, Northwestern begins a challenging stretch akin to Amen Corner at Augusta National, with four of the next five outings on the road, including two this week.


NSU (7-13 overall, 2-5 in the Southland) visits UNO (10-9, 5-3) and Central Arkansas (10-11, also 5-3) this week hoping to end a three-game skid at the hands of the league's winningest squad (17-4 Abilene Christian), the first-place club (Sam Houston State, the lone unbeaten with a 7-0 SLC mark) and the resurgent defending champions (Southeastern Louisiana, on a four-game win streak).


"The conference race is still wide open. We've seen an incredible number of games around the league decided by three points or less," said NSU assistant coach Jeff Moore. "We've been on both ends of those in our first four conference games. There's not very much difference from one to 13 in our league. It's who plays tougher and smarter game in, game out."


The Demons have one of the league's most productive players, senior forward/center Ishmael Lane, who is averaging 11.9 rebounds in Southland games to lead all players by nearly a three-rebound margin. The 6-8 Port Allen product has posted double-double performances in four of the last six games and is third in league play with a 2.8 blocked shots average.


After a 19-point, 19-rebound outing last Wednesday against Sam Houston, Lane was double and triple-teamed frequently by SLU on Saturday, something NSU head coach Mike McConathy and his staff expect to continue.


"The court has shrunk a little on Ish. He's got more defenders surrounding him, and until we can be more consistent and productive elsewhere, that's not likely to change," said Moore. "We've worked with him on things that he can do to deal with it and continue to be so productive."


While dropping its last three games, Northwestern has been crippled by a disparity in shooting touch. The overall rate has been a 44-38 percent advantage for ACU, SHSU and SLU, but the glaring difference was behind the 3-point arc, where the opposition has made 44 percent to a meager 18 by NSU.


Getting headed up the conference standings requires improvement that is within the Demons' reach, said Moore.


"We need to be tougher, defend better, make runs and stop runs, and we'll be fine," he said. "We haven't shot it well in the last three games, but we've shot it well in practice and our shooting is going to take care of itself.


"Our guys need to keep competing, and believe in each other, because the margin of victory in the Southland Conference is so slim, often one play will make the difference," he said.


Three matchups between NSU and UNO in the last four seasons have been settled at the buzzer, although the Privateers swept last year's two meetings, also within a week of each other. UNO's seventh-year coach is Mark Slessinger, an assistant on McConathy's staff for 11 seasons, five alongside Moore on the Demon bench.


"UNO is a tough team that guards so well," said Moore. "They find ways to score on the block, and everybody on their team is involved down there. They run the floor well and of course, they're very well coached."


The game broadcast by Patrick Netherton will be carried on the Demon Sports Network's flagship station, 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches, and on 103.1 FM The Eagle in Many-Leesville. Free audio is also available through the NSUDemons.com website and the recently-launched free Northwestern State Athletics app.



The Demons play an afternoon game Saturday at UCA, then come home next Wednesday night for the rematch with UNO at Prather Coliseum.