LAKE CHARLES – After winning its first true road game of the season at Houston Baptist, Northwestern State will try to double that streak Saturday at McNeese.

The Demons (7-16, 3-3 Southland Conference) three-game winning streak has vaulted the club to a tie for fourth-place with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (16-7, 3-3 SLC).

McNeese (8-15, 2-4 SLC) is on a three-game slide – all at home.

The 3 p.m. contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ with audio opportunities on 94.9 FM, nsudemons.com or on the NSU app.

NSU coach Mike McConathy recalls an instance in a Jan. 22 loss at New Orleans in which two of his second-wave players told the staff to leave the first wave on the floor because that wave was playing well.

On Thursday at HBU, it was the second unit's turn to really shine. That unit, plus Kendal Coleman, made a 26-9 rally in the first half and a 9-0 run in the second half to dig NSU out of holes.

"These guys are buying in to what we're asking of them, and they are really coming together," said NSU coach Mike McConathy. "We started seeing it even before this winning streak started, but when you have results that you can point to to say that this works, it makes it so much easier."

The first and second units combined to author an 18-3 run after HBU took its final lead, 79-78.

NSU's depth wore down the top-heavy Huskies, who had all five starters in double figures with just seven points off the bench.

The Demons piled up 54 bench points, led by a season-high 21 from senior LaTerrance Reed, his second-highest career output.

The late-game surge is a trend in this NSU three-game winning streak, adding to a 27-9 run late against UIW and a 20-8 push against TAMU-CC.

"We're settling down, getting our feet under us," Reed said. "I'm 25 years old, Brian White is 22 and guys like Carvell (Teasett) have been in big games, so we have experience and maturity that has willed us to these wins.

"After playing the tough schedule that we did, we know how to respond. We watched how bigger schools closed games out, and we've been able to do that."

Reed and Carvell Teasett each made four 3-pointers as the Demons scorched the nets from deep (17-26), tying the school record for a single game and needing eight less attempts than the 1993 Demons against UT San Antonio.

Cedric Garrett made all three of his attempts while Emareyon McDonald supplied a big first-half boost with 3-5 from deep. Jovan Zelenbaba (2-3) and White (1-2) also contributed to the 3-point record.

The Demons are 41 percent from 3-point range in the last 12 contests, including 56 percent (37-66) in the winning streak.

For a team that entered the season expecting to make shots, seeing them go in at this point is sweet.

"We've been doing a lot of shooting in practice," Reed said. "We do the Larry Terry drill, an NSU great. He learned this drill while playing in Europe, and we've been doing that, and we're seeing it help us out."

Terry averaged more than 13 points per game during his career, scoring 1,342 points (18^th all-time at NSU).

McNeese has been relatively tough overall on defense, holding opponents to 43 percent from the field and 74 points per game.

But opponents are making 34 percent from the 3-point line this season, including a Southeastern bunch that sunk 11-21 in an 83-78 Lions win Thursday.

The Cowboys' three-game home slide have come to the league's best (Nicholls, UNO and SLU), something NSU is familiar with as the Demons started 0-3 on the road in league play against that slate.

Christian Shumate's 11 points per game leads a balanced McNeese attack in which six players average at least nine points per game.

NSU's attack might be as deep but not quite as balanced as Kendal Coleman leads the with 14.7 points per game while Teasett adds 13.3 per game.

Coleman's 12 points and 13 rebounds at HBU was his 10^th double double in 13 games and 11^th overall this season, which ranks 12th nationally.

Teasett is NSU's scoring leader in conference play, scoring 14.2 per game while shooting 42 percent from 3-point range.

Saturday's matchup completes the first half of league play, and the second half of the conference slate begins in reverse order with HBU and McNeese visiting Natchitoches this coming week.