NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State men's basketball team was rolling right along after a Jan. 30 win at Central Arkansas, solidly in rhythm and a nice groove.
 
Then came the postponement of the Demons' Feb. 6 home matchup against Houston Baptist, which came on the heels of an open date on Feb. 3.
 
As Northwestern State prepares to host Houston Baptist at 7 p.m. Monday – the makeup date for the Feb. 6 postponement – the Demons (7-14, 6-4 Southland Conference) are playing for just the third time in 23 days.
 
"The last two weeks have pretty much been a struggle, because you're trying to make progress and get where you're going, and you end up playing six games in 13 days," 22^nd-year head coach Mike McConathy said.
 
A week's worth of winter weather kept the Demons from traveling to Nicholls on Feb. 17, so Monday's visit from the Huskies (4-13, 3-6) will start the aforementioned six-games-in-13-days stretch to close the regular season.
 
In a season of change and uncertainty, the Demons made it through January on schedule. Now they will have to reach back in their memory banks when it come to the final two weeks of the season.
 
While conference play typically has teams in a routine, the Demons' non-conference slate put them in position to handle two hectic weeks. Northwestern State closed its pre-conference schedule with five games in six days – all on the road – including back-to-back games against No. 1 Gonzaga on Dec. 21-22.
 
One difference is four of the six games will take place in Prather Coliseum, including all three this week. NSU follows Monday's game by hosting Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday at Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday.
 
"We're excited about that," McConathy said. "It's always good to be playing in Prather. Our guys have more confidence in themselves. We've won some close games. There's nothing like confidence, which is something we didn't have in our earlier matchup against HBU on Jan. 2."
 
That game – a 99-93 Houston Baptist win in overtime – may not have gone the Demons' way, but it provided a blueprint for Northwestern State's current five-game win streak, which has seen NSU win each game by eight points or less.
 
The Demons have fashioned their longest win streak since the 2014-15 season by successfully closing out game after game, something they failed to do in the Southland Conference opener at HBU.
 
"There's no doubt about that," McConathy said of the importance of the lessons his team learned that day. "We had a five-point lead with 38 seconds left and didn't get it done. We've been able to adjust and pull from that and learn what we need to do to finish strong."