HAMMOND – As the regular season closes down and the Southland Conference Tournament draws nearer for the Northwestern State men's basketball team, the Demons have redemption again on their minds.
 
Northwestern caps its 10-game Southland road schedule Monday night at 6 p.m. when they face Southeastern Louisiana inside the Pride Roofing University Center on ESPN+.
 
The 179^th meeting between the teams is filled with tournament implications for both teams.
 
The Demons (12-15, 9-8) sit alone in sixth place with three games remaining. Northwestern is one game ahead of seventh-place Houston Christian and two games up on a pair of teams that are tied for eighth place – Stephen F. Austin and UIW.
 
Southeastern (18-10, 12-5), meanwhile, is one game back of second place and the double bye that comes with a top-two finish in the league.
 
Northwestern, however, is looking back a bit as it prepares to complete the season series with the Lions.
 
"Our guys remember that last game at our place," second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said of Southeastern's 65-64 win in Natchitoches on Jan. 18. "They didn't like the taste in their mouth of how they lost. We're ready to rock and roll no matter who's playing or who's not. We play well on the road. We just got our fifth conference win on the road (Saturday at New Orleans). We'll go in and look to beat a very good team."
 
The Demons enjoyed their best 3-point shooting game of the season Saturday against New Orleans, sinking 12 of 23 shots from beyond the arc. The 12 made 3s were a season high and the most against a Division I team since hitting 12 at Lamar on Feb. 4, 2023.
 
Northwestern shot 51 percent from the field against the Privateers – its best mark since hitting 52 percent of its shots at Houston Christian on Dec. 7.
 
"We're playing with a lot of confidence," Cabrera said. "When we're on our 'A' game, we can beat anybody in the league."
 
The confident Demons will face a Southeastern team that features the two leading scorers in conference play – two-time Southland Conference Player of the Week Jakevion Buckley (17.6 ppg) and Sam Hines Jr. (16.9).
 
It was Hines' late bucket that provided the game-winning margin in the teams' first meeting of the season.
 
"Those two guys are competing at a high level," Cabrera said. "Sam Hines is one of the best wings and best players in the league. He's competing to be the Player of the Year, and Buckley's doing the same. They have great chemistry, and it's our job to break that up."
 
Doing so will provide a challenge for the Northwestern defense.
 
The Lions are the third-highest scoring team in the Southland in league games, averaging 73.9 points per game while compiling the fourth-best scoring margin in conference play (plus-3.2).
 
"Coach (David) Kiefer does a phenomenal job with those guys," Cabrera said. "I would love to have that game back here, but they found a way to win. That's what it's all about. You have to find a way to win, whether it's by one or by 20. We're going down to take care of business, and we just have to be able to dictate that."