NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State junior Chudier Bile scored a career-high 27 points as the Demons pulled away in the second half to defeat McNeese 84-79 on Saturday at Prather Coliseum.

The Demons erased a five-point halftime deficit as Bile and junior Larry Owens combined for 14 of NSU's first 16 points of the half to climb out of the hole.

NSU (12-12, 9-6 SLC) scored nine straight points to build a 44-42 edge over the Cowboys (12-13, 7-7) and win its fourth straight game. It's the longest winning streak since NSU won five straight in 2014-15.

In a matchup of the Southland Conference's top field goal percentage defense (NSU) and top shooting offense (McNeese), the Demons defense came through with the decisive run in the middle of the second half.

Down by one with 13 minutes left, NSU outscored McNeese 14-4 over a nearly five-minute stretch to grab a 63-54 lead. The Cowboys scored just 10 points in a critical 11-minute span.

"Overall, it was a great effort against a highly talented and well-coached team," said NSU coach Mike McConathy, whose Demons moved into sole possession of fifth place with the win and has a three-game edge to make the tournament with five games remaining. "We were challenged at halftime, and (McNeese) came out and took a seven-point lead, but we battled back and went on a run.

"We did a lot better job at guarding (McNeese's Sha'markus Kennedy, who is a really good player. We made them work really hard until the last two minutes of the game."

During the run, Jairus Roberson drilled consecutive 3-pointers to cap it and expand the advantage from three to nine. The last three was a 25-footer from the top of the key.

Roberson tied a career-high with five triples in the game and 15 points.

"The guy I was guarding, Dru (Kuxhausen), is the number one shooter in the country, and I shot 3-of-10 last time and he shot 5-of-11," Roberson said. "This time, I said I had to get him back and show him who the number one shooter is."

The Demons lead by as many as 13 points with two minutes to play, but the Cowboys attempted a furious comeback by making seven of eight shots including four 3-pointers.

McNeese sliced NSU's edge to just three points, but the Demons made 9-of-10 free throws in the final 1:06 to ice the victory.

McNeese's Myles Hutchinson made three 3-pointers in that stretch and finished with a team-high 23 points.

Bile's 27 points is the most by a Demon this season, and he added nine rebounds.

"I felt good," Bile said. "I've been getting in the gym recently and I had a lot of confidence going into the game."

NSU shot 51.8 percent from the floor in the victory, including 55 percent in the second half, compared to McNeese's (12-13, 7-7) 44.4 percent, which helped them separate for the five-point game.

Coming into the contest, the Cowboys were shooting 50.4 percent from the field, which was third in the country.

In the previous meeting, Shamarkus Kennedy dropped in 21 on 9-of-12 shooting. In this matchup, he was held 16 points and eight rebounds.

As a team, NSU buried 9-of-17 3-pointers. McNeese shot 10-of-23 from deep.

The bench came up big for the Demons, as the NSU reserves outscored McNeese's 30-3. Roberson poured in 15 and Jamaure Gregg added nine to lead the bench.

McNeese's 20 offensive rebounds kept the Cowboys in the game, but they couldn't overcome the hot shooting of the Demons. The Cowboys won the rebounding battle 41-29.

Nine players scored for NSU, with five dropping in at least nine. Owens scored 11 points, dished out three assists and had two blocks.

The Demons are just two games behind second-place Nicholls (11-4 SLC), which visits Wednesday in huge matchup that will affect tournament seeding.

The top two teams receive a double bye and the next two teams receive a single bye.