LAKE CHARLES – McNeese Cowboys basketball postseason survival hinges on Thursday night's Southland Conference home game against Houston Baptist that tips off at 7 p.m. in Burton Coliseum.
 
A win and the Cowboys stay alive with three games left to play. A loss, and McNeese's postseason hopes could fade away.
 
The Cowboys (7-18, 4-10 SLC) have dropped four straight games, the last three all at home, despite opportunities to win all three. McNeese has lost those three games by a total of 17 points.
 
Now the Cowboys will go up against a Houston Baptist squad (13-12, 8-6) that is sitting in fifth place and just a half-game behind Sam Houston State for the fourth spot that covets a first round bye in the SLC postseason tournament.
 
McNeese is just two games out of the seventh and eighth spots for the tournament but will need to likely win at least three of its final four games, and get some help, to have a chance at qualifying for the tournament.
 
HBU defeated the Cowboys 60-49 back on Jan. 7 in Houston. The Cowboys have lost three straight to the Huskies in the series and haven't won since a 79-77 victory in Houston back on March 8, 2014.
 
In the earlier meeting this season, McNeese trailed just 26-24 at the half and led 45-43 with just under seven minutes to play in the game. That's when the Cowboys went cold from the field and HBU rolled off a 17-4 run to end the game.
 
Jamaya Burr was the only Cowboy player to score in double-figures, leading the team with 11 points while Lance Potier led the way with eight rebounds.
 
Potier will miss Thursday's game due to a concussion he suffered in a game against Abilene Christian last Thursday.
 
Thursday's game will cap a four-game home stand for McNeese. The team will visit Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday then will play at Sam Houston State next Thursday before wrapping up the regular season on March 4 at home against Lamar.