BEAUMONT – One of McNeese basketball's oldest and most storied rivalries will be renewed on Saturday when the Cowboys visit Lamar at 4 p.m. at the Montagne Center for the 100^th time in the series.
 
A series that began back in 1951 (Lamar leads 52-47)has had its fair-share of barn-burners, especially during the 1970s and 80s when the two teams packed each home arena to watch all-star players such as McNeese's Joe Dumars, John Rudd, David Lawrence as well as Lamar's Mike Oliver and B.B. Davis.
 
The players on the court may have changed but the rivalry remains with Saturday's game being a critical one for both teams as the second round of the Southland Conference season is underway.
 
The Cowboys (7-14, 4-6 SLC) are coming off a very well played 87-79 win at Incarnate Word on Thursday. McNeese set a new single-game school record by making 75 percent of its 3-point shots (9 of 12) and hitting 50 percent from the field for the second straight game, the first time that's happened since beating Lamar and UCA to close out the regular season last year.
 
Junior forward Stephen Ugochukwu had a career outing by scoring 25 points to go along with 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. He also recorded career-bests in FG attempts (16), 3-point FG made (2), and free throws made (8) and attempted (9). It was his 13^th double-figure scoring game of the season and ninth double-digit rebounding game.
 
In addition to Ugochukwu, freshman guard Kalob Ledoux scored a career-high 18 points behind 6 of 7 shooting including knocking down all three of his 3s, and senior guard Jamaya Burr continued to light up the net by scoring 22 points for his second straight 20-point game. He had 24 at Nicholls last Saturday.
 
Burr leads three players who are scoring 10 or more on the season with a 12.0 average while Ugochukwu has seen his average spike to 10.8 with 8.1 rebounds per game, and Ledoux with a 10.6 mark.
 
As a team, the Cowboys could be witnessing the start of them peaking.
 
McNeese has hit 18 of 34 (53 percent) from behind the 3-point arc in the last two games and has seen its FG percentage rise 10 points over that same span after combining to sink 57 of 112 for 51 percent. Meanwhile, McNeese, who has struggled on the boards all season against its opponents, has outrebounded its last two.
 
Lamar, who is coached by former McNeese head coach Tic Price, is having its best season under Price, who is in his third year at the helm.
 
The Cardinals (13-9, 5-4) haven't played since beating Northwestern State 85-64 last Saturday and are currently in fifth place in the league standings.
 
McNeese is tied for eighth with three other teams – Nicholls, Houston Baptist and Central Arkansas – but are just two games out of fourth place, which receives a first round bye in next month's tournament.
 
McNeese has won five of the last seven meetings against the Cardinals and three of the last four played in Beaumont.
 
The two teams split last year's series with Lamar winning 87-76 in Lake Charles and McNeese getting revenge with a 77-74 win in Beaumont.
 
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.