HOUSTON – Life on the road in the Southland Conference has provided some notable moments for the Northwestern State men's basketball team this season.
 
Entering Saturday's 3:30 p.m. matchup at HCU, the Demons have been on both ends of 20-point margins in their first seven road games of conference play. Their two SLC road wins of 20 or more points are the first such pair in the same season since 2014-15.
 
As the Demons (8-19, 6-8) close out their conference-long, three-game road trip against the Huskies, they do so looking to secure a winning record on the swing and continue to strengthen their position for next month's Southland Conference Tournament.
 
"Playing a three-game road swing is never easy," first-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. "We have a tough assignment on the road. Houston Christian is playing very competitively in conference. We have our work cut out for us."
 
The Demons defeated the Huskies (6-18, 4-9) 69-64 on Jan. 15 in Natchitoches, giving them a chance to complete their third season sweep of Southland Conference play. NSU opened its current three-game road trip with a 20-point win at UIW this past Saturday, marking the first time they have clinched a sweep on the road this season.
 
While NSU took the victory in the first meeting this season with HCU, it learned a valuable lesson.
 
The Demons led by 20 points with 12 minutes to go only to see the Huskies cut the lead to three points in the waning seconds before Jimel Lane sunk a pair of free throws to seal the second of what became a season-long, three-game Demon win streak.
 
"We have to be consistent," junior point guard Chase Forte said. "We took our foot off the gas in that game and got complacent. We can't do that. We have to keep the same energy."
 
Northwestern State has been consistent offensively in the first two games of its road trip – shooting better than 59 percent in the final 20 minutes of its win at UIW on Feb. 17 and in an 11-point loss at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi this past Monday.
 
The Demons hit 13 of 22 shots against the Islanders in the second half, which helped Northwestern State trim a 20-point deficit to six.
 
Forte attributed the second-half success to a renewed focus on sharing the ball and players getting downhill toward the basket. The strong second half Monday did not deliver a win that would have pulled NSU back to .500 in league play, but it represented another step forward for a team that has continued to jell since the start of conference play Jan. 6.
 
The Demons fell that day to Lamar, 90-70, in a game where Northwestern State built an eight-point lead in the first half. Less than two months later, the Demons nearly erased a 20-point deficit against one of the best defensive teams in the Southland.
 
"These guys are grinding every day," Cabrera said. "They're doing everything I ask them to do. They're trying. They're playing hard. Playing on the road is hard for every team in the country, but we were locked in and had an opportunity to win two on the road. We got one. I'll take a split rather than go 0-2. Now we have to finish the road swing."