LAKE CHARLES – Down two starters and one key reserve, Northwestern State scratched and clawed McNeese on Saturday in an attempt to keep the Cowboys within reach in the second half.

But McNeese's A.J. Lawson and Roydell Brown answered each NSU challenge as the Demons fell 85-76 at the Health and Human Performance Complex.

Tied at 49-49 early in the second half, Brown (14 points, 15 rebounds) and Lawson (20 points) scored every McNeese point of a 10-3 run as the Cowboys (7-9, 2-3 Southland Conference) eventually led by as many as 11 points.

NSU (6-9, 3-3 SLC) sliced McNeese's lead to 76-71 with 2:19 remaining on the strength of 3-pointers from juniors Jairus Roberson and Chudier Bile, but Lawson drilled a 3-pointer as the Cowboys fended off the Demons.

"I was extremely pleased with how hard our guys fought, but we gave up too many offensive rebounds (15) and had too many turnovers (15 to McNeese's seven)," said NSU coach Mike McConathy. "We had McNeese's lead in the second half in manageable situations, but they made enough big shots.

"The frustrating thing is that we wore them down and they missed shots at times, but we didn't have anything left in the tank to take advantage of it."

Four McNeese players totaled 74 of its 85 points led by Sha'Markus Kennedy's 21. Sharp-shooter Dru Kuxhausen scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half as he made five of McNeese's nine 3-pointers.

NSU sophomore Trenton Massner continued to have a massive impact, matching Kuxhausen's 14 first-half points and finished with 17 points. The Wapello, Iowa, native made a career-best 5-of-8 3-pointers as the Demons 10-of-29 from deep.

Roberson tied for a team-high 17 points with three 3-pointers.

Bile recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.

Without point guards Brian White and John Norvel and freshman standout Nikos Chougkaz, junior point guard C.J. Jones produced a career-high 11 assists while playing 38 minutes.

"C.J. managed the game extremely well, and it was a very physical game for their not being many fouls called," McConathy said. "Massner played great early and we got good things from other players as well."

Massner led the early NSU charge by scoring 11 points to help the Demons build an early 16-7 edge.

In a half of runs, the Cowboys scored 11 consecutive points to overtake the Demons, aided by 3-pointers from Kuxhausen, Lawson and Trey Johnson.

NSU led 25-22, but McNeese pieced together a 16-3 spurt to go up 38-28 with 11 of those points from Kuxhausen.

But the Demons had another run in them, as they scored 14 of the next 17 points to lead 42-41. NSU made eight free throws in the run and finished 16-of-21.

Junior Jamaure Gregg added 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting for his fourth double-figure game this season.

The Demons finally finish their three-game trip and five of their first SLC games on the road Wednesday at Nicholls.