NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans capitalized on an offensive spurt with less than nine minutes to play to help the Privateers post a 76-64 Southland Conference win over McNeese here Saturday night.
 
With McNeese (5-13, 3-5 SLC) leading 48-45 with 8:59 to play in the game, UNO (7-12, 3-5) scored in 10 of its next 11 possessions that ignited a 31-16 run the rest of the way to claim the win while snapping the Cowboys' two-game winning streak.
 
McNeese didn't help much with its offense as it shot a season-low in conference games of 37.5 percent (24 of 64) and an overall season-worst in 3-point shooting by going 3 of 19 for 15.8 percent.
 
"We were never in sync tonight," said head coach Dave Simmons. "We didn't shoot it well at all and we needed James' (Harvey) points tonight."
 
Harvey, a true freshman who has lit up the scene in the last four games with his 3-point aim, was held to just 1 point and 0-10 shooting, including 0-9 from long range.
 
Fellow true freshman Jarren Greenwood returned to the floor after missing a game due to an injury and scored 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting. Other than he, McNeese's only other player to make more shots than missed was Craig McFerrin who tied a career-high with 23 points while grabbing a career-best 14 rebounds. McFerrin sank 9 of 13 from the field with all but one of those coming inside the paint.
 
"Really can't ask for Craig to do much more than what he did tonight," said Simmons. "We didn't give him any help."
 
The Cowboys trailed 29-27 at the half and trailed 35-32 with 16:10 to play. McNeese put together an 8-2 run to behind a couple of baskets by McFerrin and Jamaya Burr, who finished with 11 points, to grabe a 42-37 lead with 12:10 to go.
 
UNO stormed back with 8 straight points behind a couple of baskets by Kevin Hill who finished with 15 points, and a three-pointer from Cameron Reed to put the Privateers up 45-42 with 10:04 left.
 
McNeese held its final lead with 8:59 to play when a McFerrin layup put the Pokes up 48-45. That's when UNO used its transition game to help get players behind the Cowboys' defense and connect on some easy baskets.
 
"They got into a transition game and we tried to keep pace," said Simmons. "But there were too many times when our guards were under the goal on our missed shots and weren't able to get back in time."
 
Erik Thomas led UNO with 16 points while Christavious Gill added 15 including knocking down back-to-back three pointers late in the gap to keep the Cowboys at a distance.
 
McNeese fell to 0-10 on the road for the season with the loss and will look to snap that skid on Monday when it visits Southeastern Louisiana for a 7 p.m. conference contest.