ESPN Men's Basketball

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Jalen West scored 17 points off the bench, dished out five assists and Northwestern State beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 82-71 on Tuesday night for sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference.

Northwestern State (19-6, 13-2 Southland), which sits a half-game ahead of Stephen F. Austin in the conference, has won nine straight contests and used a big first half to put the Islanders away early, shooting 51.5 percent from the field while hitting seven 3-pointers and taking a 53-32 lead at halftime. The Demons used a 20-4 run in the first five minutes of the game.

James Hulbin and DeQuan Hicks each scored 11 for the Demons which scored 20 points off 17 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (4-20, 3-11) turnovers.

Nate Maxey led the Islanders with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting and pulled six rebounds. Joy Williamson had 14 points and six rebounds while Will Nelson had 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.