LAKE CHARLES – The McNeese Cowboys return to their new home on Thursday night after spending the last 15 days and three games away from the H&HP Complex as they welcome the North Carolina Central Eagles for the second matchup in the last three games.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and kids 12 and under will be admitted free to the game with a toy donation to the Toys For Tots Toy Drive for which McNeese Athletics is involved.
 
The Cowboys (2-6) possess the nation's No. 3-toughest schedule according to Kenpom.com. So far this season, McNeese has played three teams ranked in Jeff Sagarin's most up-to-date rankings – Mississippi State, Arizona State and Saint Mary's.
 
"It's great to be back home," said first-year head coach Heath Schroyer. "The first six weeks of the season we've traveled over 9,000 miles, so it's nice to be home."
 
McNeese has played just three games in its new surroundings and is averaging just over 2,000 fans per game to rank second in the Southland Conference behind Stephen F. Austin.
 
"We're excited to be back in our building," said Schroyer. "Hopefully the fans will come out and continue to support us."
 
The Cowboys and Eagles met up just 12 days ago with NCCU rallying for a 10-2 run in the final 1:59 of the game to slip by the Cowboys, 67-66.
 
McNeese had opportunities to seal the win in that final two minutes but missed 4 of 5 free throws and turned the ball over in a critical time.
 
The Cowboys followed that up with a near-miss at 22^nd-ranked Mississippi State in a game that had McNeese leading at the half and several minutes into the second half before the Bulldogs posted a run that put them up for good.
 
"It's a long season and it's taken a while for us to figure rotations and figure out the best way to play with this group," said Schroyer. "I thought the last game against Mississippi State, and really against Central, we played well enough to win the game. We have to learn how to win.
 
"I'm excited about where we're at. I though we competed really well against Mississippi State. Our ability to understand and implement a game plan is getting better. It's not where it needs to be but it's getting better."
 
Schroyer is expected to start the same five players he's gone with the last three games – Kevin Hunt, James Harvey, Roydell Brown, Sha'Markus Kennedy and Malik Hines.
 
Hines leads the team and is ranked 16^th in the league in scoring with a 12.8 average while Harvey is right behind him with a 12.4 mark.
 
Brown continues to top the conference in rebounding with an 8.8 average and Kennedy is ranked second with 2.1 blocked shots per game.
 
The Eagles (4-6) have won three of their last four games and have four players averaging double-digits in scoring – Raasean Davis (15.3), Randy Miller (14.6), Larry McKnight (11.1) and Zacarry Douglas (10.2).
 
McKnight sank two free throws with eight seconds to play to lift his Eagles to the 1-point win over the Cowboys on Dec. 1.
 
"Central presents a lot of challenges," said Schroyer. "I thought we played really well (at their place) especially in the second half; we just couldn't close out the game. This is a team that's been to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments and three out of the last five years. It's a team, in my opinion, would be in the top two or three in our conference.
 
"Being able to play an opponent like that does nothing but make us better."
 
After Thursday's game, the Cowboys will hit the road for a Saturday contest at Missouri-Kansas City before returning back home next Tuesday (Dec. 18) against in-state rival Louisiana-Lafayette.