Box Score

HAMMOND – James Hulbin came off the bench to score 16 points, including a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 15.7 seconds remaining and Northwestern State held on to take a 79-76 victory over Southeastern Louisiana in a Southland Conference game Thursday at the University Center.

Shamir Davis added 15 points and dished out five assists as Northwestern State (17-6, 11-2 SLC) won its seventh consecutive game and remained within a game of first-place Stephen F. Austin in the Southland Conference standings. Southeastern Louisiana, which will entertain SFA on Saturday in a 4 p.m. contest, fell to 9-13 overall and 7-5 in the SLC.

Southeastern trailed 51-32 with 17:12 remaining in the game after Northwestern State's Marvin Frazier scored on a layup that capped a 10-2 run. The Lions chipped away at the lead, knotting the game at 63-63 on a bucket by Jeffery Ricard with 5:04 left.

A bucket by Brandon Fortenberry with 2:16 remaining gave Southeastern its first lead of the game – 68-67 – before Gary Stewart tied the game with a free throw at the 1:55 mark.

Roosevelt Johnson gave Southeastern a 72-70 lead on a layup with 1:03 remaining before Davis, who went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe, tied the game with a pair of free throws with 58 seconds left.

The Demons took the lead after Jalan West stole the ensuing inbounds pass and was fouled where the redshirt freshman sank both free throws for a 74-72 advantage with 57.6 seconds left.

Fortenberry tied the game for the fifth time when he sank a pair of free throws with 45.7 seconds remaining before Hulbin, who finished 6-for-13 from the field and 3-for-4 from behind the 3-point line, sank the eventual game-winner for the Demons. Fortenberry, who scored 18 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, cut the lead to 77-76 with a bucket with 2.2 seconds left before West iced the game for Northwestern State with a pair of free throws with 1.1 remaining.

The Demons, who earned their first win in Hammond since a 60-55 victory on Feb. 2, 2008, opened the game with a 13-0 run before Southeastern scored on an Antonnio Benton tip-in with 13:49 left in the first half.

Southeastern cut into the lead behind the shooting of Todd Nelson, who scored a season-high 16 points on a career-high five 3-pointers. The Lions closed the gap to 31-26 with 3:58 remaining on a bucket by Benton before the Demons closed out the half on a 10-4 run that was capped by a steal and layup by DeQuan Hicks for a 41-30 lead at halftime.

Freshman Roger Woods scored a season-high 12 points for Southeastern, which finished 26-for-53 (49.1 percent) from the floor and 8-for-15 from behind the 3-point line. Benton added 10 points for the Lions for the Lions, who maintained fourth-place in the Southland Conference standings.