Box Score KATY, Texas – McNeese State ran into a buzz saw on Thursday in the second round of the Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament when Northwestern State tied a tournament record with 14 three-point goals and used spurts of offensive firepower behind the shooting of Zeek Woodley and Jalen West to run out to a 96-89 win over the Cowboys.
 
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the 5th-seeded Cowboys as they end their season 15-16 overall. NSU (19-11), the No. 4 seed, advances to play No. 1 Stephen F. Austin in Friday's semifinal round.
 
Woodley and West combined to score 58 of the Demons' point total and were nearly unconscious in the second half when they hit 16 of 17 shots between the two, including knocking down all six of their 3-point shots in the span. Woodley finished with 34 points while West added 24. The two hit 23 of 29 from the field for the game and 7 of 10 from long range.
 
McNeese didn't go without its fair-share of scorers as the three seniors – Desharick Guidry, Kevin Hardy, and Keelan Garret – each netted at least 20 points. Hardy led the way with 25 points while Guidry and Garrett each scored 20.
 
The Cowboys had the upper hand or equal to the Demons in nearly every stat category for the exception of the 3-point shooting.
 
Both teams hit 36 field goals in the game. NSU made one more free throw than McNeese (10-9). The Cowboys dominated in the rebound department with a 51 to 37 advantage while ripping down 28 offensive boards and scoring 25 second-chance points. McNeese forced the Demons into more turnovers (14-11) and scored 20 points off those miscues.
 
But the Demons knocked down 14 of 30 from behind the 3-point arc while McNeese made just 8 of 25.
 
NSU led 41-35 at the break and opened up the second half on a 8-1 run behind 3s from Ta'Jon Welcome and West to take a 49-36 lead with 18:33 to play.
 
The Cowboys stayed close and cut the lead to 7 at 56-49 after a steal and layup by Hardy with 14:01 to go. The Demons streaked back by scoring eight straight including seven points in a 34 second span behind back-to-back 3s from West and Woodley to put NSU up 66-51 with 11:20 to play.
 
The lead got to 16 points after another Welcome three with 9:31 to play but McNeese battled back with a jumper from Hardy followed by a Garrett 3-pointer to cut the margin to 71-60 with 8:16 to play.
 
The NSU lead was 74-63 with 7:38 to go when the speedy Demons strung together 10 straight points in a span of 1:48 to make it an 86-63 game with 5:50 to play.
 
McNeese continued to battle and outscored the Demons 12-2 over the next three minutes when it scored seven of those points off turnovers and cut the lead down to 86-75 with 2:54 to play. Another NSU offensive explosion saw the team score six straight in a matter of 43 seconds but trailing 96-79 with 1:33 to play, McNeese kept hanging around and made things interesting by scoring the game's final 10 points to make it a 7-point margin.
 
McNeese hit 36 of 88 from the field and was 8 of 25 from long range while NSU shot 36 of 64 for the game and was 10 of 16 at the free throw line. The Demons connected on 20 of 31 for 65 percent in the second half.
 
Guidry ended his McNeese career by recording his 22^nd double-double of the season as he added 15 rebounds to his 20 points and Hardy pulled down nine rebounds with five assists.