LAKE CHARLES – Stephen Ugochukwu scored all 18 of his points with in a 25-minute span and Lance Potier helped spearhead a suffocating defense with 11 rebounds as McNeese stunned the four-time defending champion Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 69-54 here Monday night.
 
The win gave the Cowboys (5-8, 2-0) their first winning streak of the season with their second straight while halting SFA's 26-game Southland Conference winning streak. The Lumberjacks fell to 6-8 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
 
It's also the first 2-0 start to the league season for McNeese since the 2013-14 year and the first win over SFA since 2012, snapping a 5-game losing streak.
 
"It was a complete team effort tonight," said coach Dave Simmons. "We beat a good team tonight and now we have a target on our back because we're the first to knock off the defending champs."
 
Ugochukwu played a big part of knocking off the Lumberjacks. The junior was held scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting through the first 15 minutes of the game but then sparked a flame with seven points in the final five minutes to help ignite a 14-0 run for the Cowboys as they climbed from a 7-point deficit with 6:39 to play in the half to a 27-20 lead following a Jamaya Burr layup with 1:19 to play.
 
"We have to stay calm and stay focused," said Simmons. "I keep telling the kids this league is wide open."
 
McNeese led 27-23 at the half and opened up the second half on a 14-5 run to take a 43-30 lead following a couple of Ugochukwu free throws.
 
Burr, who finished with 14 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists and a career-high five steals, dropped a jumper then fed Kalob Ledoux for a baseline 3-pointer to increase the lead to 48-32 with 11:06 to play.
 
Meanwhile, the Lumberjacks were ice cold from the field in the second half, especially from long range where they connected on just 1 of 12 from behind the arc and that one coming at the final horn. For the game, SFA was 18 of 64 for 28 percent from the field and 5 of 26 for 19 percent from 3-point range.
 
Only one player scored in double-digits for SFA, that being Ivan Canete with 10 points. His 3 at the buzzer put him in that double-digit category.
 
McNeese shot 44 percent for the game (22 of 50) and hit 5 of 10 from 3-point range. The Cowboys also connected on 20 of 30 from the free throw line and knocked down crucial freebies when they mattered the most.
 
James Harvey, who continues to improve in his long range shooting after going 3 for 5, gave the Cowboys their first double-digit lead of the game with a 3 to at the 16:46 mark of the second half to make it 37-27.
 
SFA's Kevon Harris followed by hitting 1 of 2 free throws to but the margin to 9 points but Ugochukwu answered with a jumper to give McNeese an 11-point lead with 15:34 left and a double-digit margin that would not dip into single digits the rest of the game.
 
Even when SFA seemed to heat up with a 6-0 run to cut the gap to 48-38 with 8:51 to play, the Cowboys answered with a 7-1 run to widen the gap.
 
Next up for the Cowboys will be preseason favorite Sam Houston State at 7:30 on Thursday night in Burton Coliseum. The Bearkats (9-6) are a surprisingly 0-2 in league play after losses to Houston Baptist and Central Arkansas.