LAKE CHARLES – McNeese will go for its second straight win on Friday night when the Cowboys host Mississippi College to close out a three-game home stand.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 at McNeese's H&HP Complex. Doors will open at 5:30 and tickets are still available. The game will stream live on McNeeseSports.com and a radio broadcast will be carried on Cajun Radio (1470 and 1290 AM) and on CajunRadio.com.
The Cowboys (1-3) got a stellar performance from their two big men –
Malik Hines and Sha'Markus Kennedy – in Tuesday's 74-60 win over the University of Mobile. In that game, the 6-foot-10 Hines and 6-foot-8 Kennedy combined to score 34 points and grab 19 rebounds. Hines had 21 points on 10 of 13 shooting for his second 20-point game of the season while Kennedy added 13 points and 15 boards to go along with five blocked shots, seven assists and three steals.
As a team, McNeese dominated the glass with a 47-23 advantage and dished out 17 assists on 29 shots made.
Hines tops the team in scoring on the season with a 14.8 average and is ranked second in the Southland Conference and 14
th nationally by hitting 71.4 percent of his shots (25 of 35).
Roydell Brown leads the conference and is ranked No. 10 in the nation with 11.5 rebounds per game to go along with a 10.8 scoring average, and has recorded three double-doubles in four games this season.
James Harvey and
Kevin Hunt are each averaging 10.3 points per game while Kennedy is swatting away three shots per game, ranking him No. 1 in the league and 13
th nationally.
Mississippi College (2-2) will be playing its third Division I program of the season when it faces McNeese. The Choctaws, a Division II program and a member of the traditionally strong Gulf States Conference, fell to Nicholls by an 86-58 score to open the season then dropped a 103-52 contest to Top 10-ranked Auburn last week in exhibition contests.
MC has five players averaging double-figures in scoring on the season, led by Donovan Ham's 16.7 mark.
Following Friday's game, the Cowboys will hit the road for three straight, beginning next Thursday at SMU.
