KATY, Texas – Northwestern State point guards Brian White and John Norvel walked out for their final practice in Prather Coliseum on Monday singing Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come."
 
"It's been a long time comin,' but I know a change 'gon come," White belted out as teammates and some coaches joined in.
 
NSU has missed the last four Southland Conference Tournaments, but the No. 5 seed Demons will make their postseason return to the Merrell Center on Wednesday to face No. 8 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
The Demons (14-15, 11-9 SLC) and Islanders (14-17, 10-10 SLC) tip off the men's tournament at 5 p.m. at the Merrell Center.
 
"It's a great feeling knowing we were in for sure with a win at Central Arkansas (on Saturday)," said Brian White, a sophomore from Natchitoches. "There's been a drought the past few years in Natchitoches, and everybody was talking about it.
 
"So I was filled with excitement when we knew we were in, and the whole team was really excited. We feel like stars with how the town has supported us and congratulated us for getting back to the postseason."
 
No current Demon has played in the SLC Tournament, but coach Mike McConathy has made seven trips to the tournament finals in his 11 tournament appearances at NSU.
 
McConathy added that many of the new Demons as well as veteran Demons have played in plenty of tournament situations in their careers.
 
"Guys like Jamaure Gregg played on a 26-4 (junior college) team with tournament experience, Jairus Roberson played twice in the NJCAA national tournament and Chudier Bile played once," McConathy said. "Nikos Chougkaz played in FIBA for Greece in U19 and faced Team USA among others.
 
"Even our returners like C.J. Jones (high school championship game), Larry Owens (state semifinals) have played in big games, so we're not hung up on that."
 
NSU surges into the league tournament winners of its last two (vs. New Orleans and at Central Arkansas) and averaging nearly 96 points in its last three games.
 
The Demons ended up needing to win the last two games to make the tournament as they would have been the odd-team-out of a five-way tiebreaker at 10-10 with a loss Saturday.
 
NSU has paired junior Jairus Roberson and sophomore Trenton Massner together in the starting lineup, one of the changes that's sparked a more free-flowing system.
 
"Our guards are running the floor harder, and that's helping shooters and big guys who are running down the middle of the floor get open as well," Massner said. "We're finally buying into what the coaches are saying – not that we haven't been all year – but we've learned that when you push the ball in transition, it's an easy way to get buckets."
 
NSU produced two 20-point scorers -- Roberson (23 points) and Massner (20 points) – for the first time this season Saturday.
 
Roberson is averaging better than 20 points in his last three games as he's made 14-of-31 from 3-point range in that stretch. Roberson's 77 3-pointers this season ties him for fourth all-time in NSU single-season history, nine off the Jalan West's record of 86 set in 2014-15 – the last time the Demons were in the league tournament.
 
"Our wings are running, and our point guards are throwing it up the floor and getting it in shooters' hands to take open shots," McConathy said. "Our rim runners are getting to the goal, and we're spotting up, getting into our offense and taking a good shot.
 
"We're a lot better team when we get in the flow. If we get into a half-court game, we're not nearly as effective. I'm sure (TAMU-CC) wants to be in a half-court game … and we'll have to do a better job of moving the ball than we did in our last meeting."
 
The Islanders won the lone meeting this season in a slower-paced 67-62 decision in Texas, but the Demons erased a 16-point TAMU-CC lead to challenge late.
 
With the TAMU-CC win, the Islanders have won the last seven meetings. TAMU-CC topped NSU in the previous two meetings on the final possession as Myles Smith made a shot two years ago and Elijah Schmidt deflected a shot this past season in wins.
 
The Islanders have won their last four games to get into the tournament, knocking off UNO, UIW, Sam Houston State and HBU.
 
Freshman Nikos Chougkaz produced his first double-double (12 points, career-high 16 rebounds) against the Islanders and finished the regular season with five.
 
Junior Chudier Bile, a second-team all-conference selection with 14 points and nearly eight rebounds per game, posted a career-high 15 rebounds Saturday at UCA as part of his seventh double-double this season.
 
"His 17 points and 15 rebounds, you just think wow," McConathy said. "(Bile) rebounded with a vengeance, and if we're going to win, everybody is going to have to rebound with a vengeance against a really good rebounding team in (TAMU-CC)."
 
The Demons finished the regular season in a tie for fourth place with Sam Houston State, the fifth time McConathy has finished in the top four since 2010.
 
Six of NSU's eight newcomers are among the team's top seven scorers, and McConathy and staff have had to shape an inexperienced roster over the season.
 
NSU will attempt to replicate his tournament success, which includes tournament titles in 2001, 2006 and 2013. The Demons won NCAA Tournament games in 2001 (Winthrop) and in 2006 (No. 3 seed Iowa.).
 
"We're playing our best in March, and we have the attitude that we're trying to go win games," McConathy said. "I told a friend of mine who's playing the NJCAA Tournament for the first time that I made the mistake a long time ago of just wanting to get to the national tournament.
 
"You've got to get there and try to win games because your perspective is different than just being satisfied to get there."