HAMMOND – McNeese spoiled its best night shooting from three-point range and one of its best in field goals with a horrific display at the free throw line while Southeastern Louisiana turned its second half into an NBA Jam On Fire session with six straight three-pointers made to help the Lions rally from a 12-point second half deficit to pull out an 82-80 win over the Cowboys here Monday night.
 
The loss was the second straight suffered by the Cowboys, both on the road, as they fall to 5-14 on the season but more importantly, 3-6 in league play. SLU improved to 4-14 and 2-6 in the conference.
 
Freshman Jarren Greenwood scorched the nets for the Cowboys by sinking 28 points on 9 of 12 shooting including draining all five of his shots from 3-point range. Greenwood scored 24 of his points in the second half.
 
With 17 seconds to play and McNeese holding onto a 1-point lead, Greenwood went 1 for 2 at the free throw line and SLU's Joshua Filmore knocked down the game-winning 3-pointer on the other end with nine seconds to play. McNeese's James Harvey floated a 10-footer from the middle block that went over the rim. The Lions' Jordan Capps pulled in the rebound and was fouled, then hit 1 of 2 free throws to finish off the scoring.
 
"This is a game I was sure we were going to get," said head coach Dave Simmons. "But it all came down to free throws and rebounding."
 
McNeese missed 12 freebies in the game (13 of 25) including hitting just 11 of 20 in the second half. The Cowboys pulled in just 25 rebounds for the game and only seven in the second half compared to the 43 SLU hauled in for the game that included 16 offensive boards.
 
Greenwood wasn't the only scorer for the Cowboys. Harvey and Craig McFerrin each chipped in with 15 points, Harvey scoring 12 of his in the second half.
 
McNeese led 30-28 at the break and opened up a 49-37 lead behind three straight 3-point goals by Greenwood and another by Harvey with 13:19 to play.
 
That's when the Lions turned up their long range strokes and connected on six straight 3-point goals, five by Mike Hawkins whose 12 of his 15 points for the game happened in a 2 ½ minute span that saw his team take a 52-51 lead following his fourth trey with 10:38 to play.
 
Five minutes later, and when the Lions finally cooled, the Cowboys scored 10 straight points that was fueled by a Harvey 4-point play to go up 76-70 with 2:42 to play.
 
The Lions responded with 6 straight to tie things up at 76-76 with 1:14 to play when Greenwood sank his fifth 3-pointer of the game to put the Pokes up 79-76 with 52 seconds left.
 
Before that play, McFerrin was whistled for his fifth foul, and in disgust, slammed the ball to the ground to garner a technical. The Lions, trailing by 2 at the time, hit 1 of 2 of the technical foul shots.
 
Greenwood had a chance to put the Cowboys up 3 with 17 seconds to play but missed one of two free throws and that allowed SLU to take a 1-point lead off of Filmore's 3.
 
Capps led the Lions with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Marlain Veal added 19 points while Filmore scored 18.
 
McNeese finished the game hitting 28 of 57 from the floor (49.1 percent) including 16 of 26 for 61.5 percent in the second half. In addition, the Cowboys knocked down 11 of 20 from long range (55 percent) and was 7 of 9 in the second half (77.8 percent). But the handicap came at the line where McNeese hit just 13 of 25 for 52 percent.
 
SLU connected on 51.8 percent (29-56) for the game, 45.5 percent (10-22) from 3-point range and 58.3 percent (14-24) from the line. The Lions connected on a remarkable 70.8 percent (17-24) of their shots in the second half.
 
The Cowboys must regroup and get ready for their next game, the last of a three-game road trip, on Saturday when they visit Nicholls.