LAKE CHARLES – The final stretch run of the regular season leading up to the Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament will get underway for the McNeese State Cowboys on Saturday when the Pokes host Nicholls in a ESPN3 broadcast game.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 3:05 and will follow a 12:15 game against the Cowgirls and Lady Colonels to kick off the broadcasted doubleheader. This will be the first of three straight home games for the Cowboys before starting tournament play on Wednesday, March 11, in Katy.
 
McNeese is 9-5 at home this season.
 
Nicholls (7-17, 4-10 SLC) has dropped four straight since beating McNeese 70-59 back on Feb. 7 in Thibodaux. The Colonels, who are 1-11 away from home this season, is coming off a 79-57 home loss to Northwestern State on Monday.
 
The Cowboys (11-15, 5-10) are coming off one of their better performances of the season in a 77-60 win at Central Arkansas. Four Cowboys scored in double-digits in that game, led by Keelan Garrett who broke out of his shooting slump by making 10 of 16 of his shots including five 3-pointers while netting a game-high 25 points.
 
Garrett jumped his season scoring average back to double-digits (10.0) as the Cowboys are one of just four teams in the league that have three starters scoring 10 or more a game.
 
Desharick Guidry tops the team and is ranked fourth in the league with 17.3 points a game. He's also the conference leader and ranks fourth in the nation in rebounding with 11.5 per game. Already McNeese's single-season record holder for most double-doubles in a season, Guidry set a conference record after he recorded his 19^th at Central Arkansas on Tuesday despite playing the game sick.
 
Kevin Hardy, the school's all-time career steals leader, is sinking 12.9 points and 6.6 rebounds a game and is ranked first in the SLC and ninth nationally with 2.9 steals per game.
 
The Colonels are led in scoring by T.J. Carpenter's 10.5 points while Amin Torres is averaing 10.1 per game. Ja'Dante Frye, who is averaging 9.3 per game, led the Colonels with 19 points in their win over the Cowboys three weeks ago.
 
McNeese will continue its home stand on Monday night at 7 when it hosts Lamar in a game that will be televised on ROOT Sports.