LAKE CHARLES – McNeese's Austin Lewis held his own block party in the Cowboys' home opener against Louisiana College as the junior from Houston set a new school record with 11 blocked shots to help McNeese ease to a 90-63 win.
 
Lewis added 10 points to join Desharick Guidry (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Kevin Hardy (14 points, 12 rebounds) to record double-doubles for the game. Lewis' 11 swats were only two short of tying the Southland Conference record.
 
He breaks the record of 10 set by Edmond Lawrence against Oklahoma A&S on January 17, 1973.
 
"These records are set by great players to be broken by great players," said head coach Dave Simmons. "Now he (Lewis) just needs to add to it."
 
Keelan Garrett added 15 points while to round out McNeese's double-figure scorers while Jamaya Burr chipped in with nine points and a career-high 10 assists.
 
"This was a great confidence builder," said Simmons, "especially after the way we played at Baylor."
 
The Cowboys had an awful night of shooting at Baylor with just 21 percent shooting but rallied for 53 percent on Tuesday night, including a blistering 62 percent in the second half.
 
McNeese started out slow by missing its first seven shots but then got into rhythm after Guidry hit the game's first basket on a layup 2:44 into the game. That started a string of eight straight points for the Cowboys before LC (0-1) got on the board.
 
The Wildcats kept it close behind the shooting of Anthony Gaines who led his team with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and after the Wildcats cut it to 26-20 with 6:22 to play in the first half, McNeese scored seven-in-a-row and went into the break with a 42-29 lead.
 
Hardy and Lewis sparked the Cowboys to begin the second half with two buckets each including a jam by Lewis to put the Cowboys up 49-29 and got the lead as high as 25 points at 65-40 following a Shaun Johnson three-pointer.
 
Lewis, who had nine blocked shots in the first half, knocked down the record-breaker with 5:14 to play in the game.
 
"I'm just going out and trying to play the best I can for my team," said Lewis.
 
The Cowboys return to action on Friday at 7 p.m. against Jarvis Christian.