Box Score MOUNT PLEASANT, Michigan – Jamaya Burr's three-point shot at the buzzer to win the game for McNeese here Monday night, bounced off the back of the rim as Central Michigan held off a fierce Cowboys' rally to hang on for a 74-73 win.
 
Trailing 73-69 with a minute to play, Stephen Ugochukwu, who led the Cowboys with a career-high 16 points, tipped in his own miss, then a Lance Potier blocked shot and rebound led to a Jamaya Burr layup to tie the game at 73-73 with 10 seconds to play.
 
On the ensuing possession, what appeared to be a steal by McNeese freshman Jarren Greenwood was whistled for a foul and CMU's Braylon Rayson hit one of two free throws to give the Chippewas a one point lead with 3.9 seconds to play. Burr then took the inbounds pass and sprinted to the top of the key where he fired up an open shot at the buzzer that fell just off the mark.
 
The loss dropped the Cowboys to 1-5 on the season while CMU snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 3-3.
 
"We're improving," said head coach Dave Simmons. "We're playing better. Everyone thought his (Burr's) shot was in. There wasn't any hanging heads in the locker room after the game. It was a locker room of excitement of where we know we can go from here."
 
Ugochukwu played a big part in McNeese's second half rally by scoring 11 of his 16 points in the second half. He also grabbed seven rebounds and had a steal.
 
"The players know they have to be productive when getting minutes," said Simmons. " That's how you get more minutes. Stephen really helped us on the glass tonight and that's been an area that has really been weak for us the last couple of games."
 
Craig McFerrin added 15 points and six boards while Lance Potier scored 14 with a team-high eight rebounds. Burr scored 12 to round out the double-figure scorers for the Cowboys.
 
Rayshawn Simmons led CMUwith 16 points followed by Rayson with 12 and Luke Meyer 11.
 
McNeese jumped out to a hot start by making its first four shots of the game and 7 of 10 to build an 18-11 lead 6 ½ minutes into the game. CMU scored the game's next eight points to go up 19-18 but a Ugochukwu jumper put the Cowboys back up by 1 with 9:12 to play in the first half.
 
The two teams would trade baskets and the lead several times over the next five minutes until the Chippewas pulled ahead after being down 29-28 with 4:37 to play and mounted a 15-3 run to end the half and take a 43-32 lead into the half.
 
McNeese fell behind by as many as 14 point several times in the second half, the final time at 67-53 with 8:14 to play.
 
The Cowboys followed with five straight points behind a Greenwood layup and a Potier three-pointer to cut the gap into single digits at 67-58 with 6:36 to play. The margin got to 7 at 69-62 after an AJ Brown layup and a Burr steal and layup with 5:06 to go.
 
Simmons then hit 1 of 2 at the free throw line to make it 70-62 with 4:44 to play before Ugochukwu scored four straight points on a layup and a tip-in off a Burr missed layup to cut the lead to 70-66 with 3:56 to play.
 
Another tip-in by Ugochukwu with 51 seconds remaining cut the CMU lead to 73-71 and after Potier pulled in the ball on his blocked shot of a Simmons layup, Burr took it the distance to tie the game with 10 seconds to play.
 
"We kept playing well," said Simmons. "We had a shot to win it and anytime you're on the road, that's what you want is a shot to win it."
 
The Cowboys will take the next nine days off to get through finals and will return to action on Dec. 9 when they visit Louisiana-Lafayette.