NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State's Southland Conference basketball season, with all its ebbs and flows, ends at home Saturday afternoon with quite a fitting matchup.
 
The Demons were sensational in the first half of their 80-75 win Feb. 2 at Central Arkansas, and rock-solid in the final minutes. The Bears were spectacular while they stymied NSU in a rally from a 24-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 68.
 
The outcome of Saturday's 3 p.m. NSU-UCA contest could provide the winner with a trip to Katy, Texas, for a quarterfinal round Southland Tournament game next Wednesday. The loser falls out of contention and ends its season.
 
The showdown caps NSU Basketball Reunion Day. Former players and staff are invited to a noon luncheon in the east concourse of the coliseum, followed by a 1 p.m. women's matchup between the schools that also carries a possible Southland Tournament berth for the winner.
 
Four Demon seniors will be honored in a pregame ceremony: Ishmael Lane, DeAndre Love, student coach Colby Koontz and four-year letterman Malik Metoyer. Lane, a four-year starter (113 of 116 career games) ranks among all-time leaders in program history for scoring (1,449 points, five shy of ninth), rebounding (eighth with 817) and blocked shots (third, 165).
 
The Demons (11-19 overall, 6-11 in the Southland) have dropped their last two games on the road after alternating wins and losses while going 4-3 in February. The Bears (12-18, 7-10) clawed out of a seven-game skid Feb. 27 by dominating Stephen F. Austin at home 92-74, then fell 67-55 at second-place Abilene Christian before pulling off a 91-87 road win at regular-season champion Sam Houston State Wednesday night.
 
NSU's potential path to its first conference tournament berth in the careers of Lane and Metoyer is clear. Step one is beating UCA, then counting on two of the league's top three teams, Sam Houston (at eighth-place Stephen F. Austin) and third-place Southeastern Louisiana (at 10^th-place Nicholls) to prevail. SFA and Nicholls, like NSU, face must-win scenarios and if either pull the upset, the Demons would be eliminated. NSU's game will probably finish sooner than the other two contests (3:30 and 4:30, respectively).
 
The calendar bolsters the Demons' hopes.  All but one win in league play have come on Saturdays, when NSU is 5-3.
 
"We've played better on Saturdays and hopefully we do it again," said 20^th-year coach Mike McConathy. "Being at home for our seniors' final regular-season game will help. Through all the ups and downs in this conference race, we're on our court playing for the chance to get to Katy.
 
"This shapes up as a fast-paced matchup with a lot at stake for both teams. In the first game a month ago, both teams had some of our best minutes this season, so it wouldn't surprise me to see more of that Saturday in Prather Coliseum."
 
Saturday's contest, with the Demon Sports Network's broadcast by 14-year veteran announcer Patrick Netherton, can be heard on 100.7 FM KZBL and 103.1 FM KBDV. Streaming audio is available at www.NSUDemons.com/watch and through the new Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded from the Apple Store or on Google Play.