LAKE CHARLES – McNeese will be looking for its third win in the last four games when hit hosts longtime Southland Conference rival Lamar at 3 p.m. in the Battle of the Border Part 1 at the McNeese H&HP Complex.
 
The two teams will meet a second time on March 9 in Beaumont in the regular season finale.
 
The Cowboys (7-13, 3-4) are currently in eighth place in the league standings but just two games out of second place in the loss column. Lamar (10-11, 3-5) sits a half game behind the Cowboys and is tied with Nicholls.
 
Saturday's game will be the final one of a four-game home stand.
 
SERIES:
Lamar holds a slight 55-48 lead in the all-time series. The two teams have posted a 5-5 mark over the last 10 games.
 
McNeese won the last meeting, 69-60, in Lake Charles in last year's season finale and the final game in Burton Coliseum.
 
KNOCKING THEM DOWN IN LEAGUE PLAY:
The Cowboys lead the Southland Conference in field goal shooting in league games only with a 50.4 percentage (187-371).
 
In addition, McNeese is third in scoring offense (74.7 ppg), third in 3FG shooting (38.2 percent, 42-110), second in rebounding defense (30.4 reb/against pg), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.00), and second in attendance (2,360) in SLC games only.
 
Individually in league games only, Roydell Brown is third in scoring (19.0 ppg), third in FG shooting (58 percent), and second in rebounding (9.6). He's first in rebounding in all games with a 9.7 mark. James Harvey is third in 3FGs made per league game (3.0) and fifth in 3FG shooting (42.9 percent). Trey Touchet is sixth in assists per game (4.0) and is first in assist/turnover ratio (3.5).  And Sha'Markus Kennedy is third in blocked shots (1.9).
 
DOUBLING DOWN:
Roydell Brown recorded his 10^th double-double of the season after his 28-point, 12-rebound game against HBU last Saturday. That number leads the Southland Conference and ranks him 18^th in the NCAA.
 
The McNeese school record is 22 double-doubles in a season set by Desharick Guidry in the 2014-15 season.
 
In addition, Brown has scored 20 or more points in three straight games, averaging 25.7 points during that span.
 
REUNION TIME:
Former Cowboy and Cowgirl basketball players and staff have been invited to attend Saturday's doubleheader and will be recognized at the half of each game – Cowgirls during the women's game and Cowboys at the men's game.
 
If you're a former basketball player and would like to attend, two free tickets will be available to you at the Will Call window at the arena ticket office.
 
FAMILIAR FACES, DIFFERENT SIDELINE:
Lamar head coach Tic Price and assistant coach David Dumars once donned the blue and gold and walked the McNeese sidelines.
 
Price was the head coach for the Cowboys from 2002-07 and helped lead the Cowboys to the 2002 regular season and tournament championships and the program's second appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Dumars joined the Cowboys in 2000 as part of Ron Everhart's staff and was a member of the coaching staff until the end of the 2017-18 season, then rejoined Price at Lamar.
 
NEXT UP:
McNeese will visit first place Sam Houston State on Wednesday night before returning home next Saturday for a doubleheader with Northwestern State.