LAKE CHARLES – Southeastern Louisiana used a 17-5 run over a 7:53 span late in the second half then scored the final five points in overtime to complete a rally and beat McNeese 79-76 here Monday night in front of a television audience.
 
McNeese (6-17, 4-9 SLC) missed 11 free throws in the game and was dominated on the boards by a 47-35 margin while the Lions (7-18, 5-7) took advantage of the hot hand from three-point range in the second half making 6 of 9 from long range to help with the win.
 
Jamaya Burr led the Cowboys with 21 points to lead four teammates in double-digits. Matt Moss added a career-high 13 points in 11 minutes of action, 11 of those points coming in the first half. Moss scored two points in three minutes of work in the second half. James Harvey added 12 points while Austin Lewis added 10 with five rebounds and three blocked shots.
 
Zay Jackson led SLU with 23 points followed by JaMichael Hawkins with 12 and Jordan Capps added 11 points and 16 rebounds, six of those on the offensive glass.
 
McNeese scorched the nets in the first half hitting 55 percent (17 of 31) to build a 42-29 halftime lead.
 
SLU came out on fire in the second half and scored the first seven points of the frame and cut the margin to 42-36 after a Hawkins jumper with 16:52 to play.
 
Moss gave the Cowboys their first points of the second half on a jumper with 15:51 left to put his team back up by eight. Jackson and Burr then traded 3s then another trey by Dimi Cook tied the game at 49-49 with 12:57 to play.
 
The Cowboys followed with a 7-0 run behind another Burr 3-pointer, a Craig McFerrin layup and Stephen Ugochukwu hitting 1 of 2 at the free throw line. A three by Harvey and a Burr traditional three-point play put McNeese up 61-53 with 9:32 to play.
 
From that point, SLU outscored the Cowboys by a 20-12 margin and had a chance to win at the buzzer with a tip-in by James Currington off a Jackson missed jumper, but the ball slid off the front of the rim.
 
In the overtime period, the Cowboys hit just 1 of their 6 shots and was 1-4 from the free throw line while SLU knocked down 4 of 5 to get the win.
 
McNeese connected on 45.9 percent (28 of 61) from the field and 8 of 26 (30.8 percent) from 3-point range. SLU hit 40.3 percent (27 of 67) for the game was knocked down 16 of 32 in the second half along with 9 of 18 from behind the arc.
 
The Cowboys saw their four-game home court winning streak snapped while SLU picked up its first road win of the season in 14 tries.
 
McNeese will return to action on Saturday when it hosts Lamar at 3.