LAKE CHARLES – The long wait for an on-campus home facility will come to an end on Friday night when the McNeese Cowboys break in the brand new Health & Human Performance Complex as the new home of Cowboy and Cowgirl basketball when they host the Loyola Wolfpack out of New Orleans.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 and doors will open at 5:30. Tickets are available at the McNeese ticket office until noon on Friday when ticket sales will move to the ticket booth at the H&HP Complex.
 
"This is an exciting time for McNeese basketball," said first-year head coach Heath Schroyer. "We're looking forward to having a home and looking forward to playing in front of Lake Charles and in front of our fans. Our guys are excited to get started. It's an exciting time for all the Cowboy fans out there and an exciting time for us as coaches and players."
 
It's been 47 years since the Cowboys had an on-campus arena (McNeese Arena) to call home. McNeese has played the last 32 years as Burton Coliseum with its home court, and before that, played its home games at the Lake Charles Civic Center from 1972-86.
 
The Cowboys (0-2) opened the season with two hard-fought losses at Saint Mary's and Arizona State, two games where McNeese saw itself trail by single digits in the second half.
 
"That was a great experience for us," said Schroyer. "To go on the road and play to NCAA Tournament teams, I think we learned a lot and got better."
 
Graduate transfer Malik Hines produced a remarkable first game as a McNeese Cowboy by scoring 26 points in the loss to Saint Mary's while junior transfer Roydell Brown recorded a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds in the game.
 
At Arizona State, sophomore transfer Kevin Hunt led the way with 15 points.
 
"As a sophomore, he (Hunt) played two of the best point guards in the country," said Schroyer. "I think he really stepped up and played well.
 
"Malik has shown that he can dominate a game at times and Roydell did great on the glass. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of different people."
 
"For some of our kids, those were their first Division I games," said Schroyer. "And us together, our first Division I games. I saw a lot of growth from game one to game two in a lot of areas."
 
That trio is expected to be in the starting lineup on Friday night along with returning senior James Harvey (9.0 ppg) and junior transfer Will Robinson (8.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg).
 
Hines tops the team with a 13.5 scoring average through two games. Hunt and Brown are each averaging 10.5 points while Brown is the team leader in rebounding with a 10.5 mark.
 
Loyola will come into the H&HP with a 3-2 record on the season and off an 87-78 win over cross-town rival Xavier.
 
The Wolfpack are averaging 91.8 points per game and are led in scoring by Zach Wrightsil's 16.8 per game average. Four other Wolfpack players are scoring in double-digits on the season.
 
Friday's game will be the first of three straight home games for the Cowboys in an eight-day stretch. McNeese will host the University of Mobile next Tuesday at 6:30 and then Mississippi College next Friday at 6:30 before taking a three-game road trip to SMU (Nov. 29), North Carolina Central (Dec. 1) and Mississippi State (Dec. 4).