LAKE CHARLES – There was nothing sleepy about McNeese walk-on Trey Johnson's play on Wednesday night against Central Arkansas as the true freshman nicknamed "Sleepy" by the Cowboys' coaching staff, scored all seven of his career-high point output in the second half and dished out three of his five assists to help ignite McNeese to an 83-75 Southland Conference win over the Bears and snapping a five-game losing streak.
 
Johnson's steal and breakaway dunk with 11:28 to play in the second half put McNeese up 56-54 for its first lead of the game and one it never relinquished.
 
But it wasn't just Sleepy who stepped it up a notch from the bench with McNeese's top scorer and rebounder Roydell Brown still nursing an injured ankle.
 
Will Robinson scored nine points with a career-best 11 rebounds and AJ Brown grabbed a season-high six boards as the bench combined to score 18 points on the night.
 
"I thought those guys were really good tonight," said head coach Heath Schroyer. "Sleepy came in and gave us some energy and Will had his best game of the year."
 
"I just do what the coaches tell me to do when I'm given the chance," said the freshman from Baton Rouge.
 
Sha'Markus Kennedy led the Cowboys with 26 points but fouled out with 1:53 remaining and the Cowboys holding onto a 68-64 lead.
 
In his absence, the Bears (10-16, 5-8) managed to tie the game with two Hayden Koval free throws coming off that Kennedy foul, then an offensive rebound by DeAndre Jones off a UCA three-point attempt was laid in with two seconds to play to send the game into the extra five minutes.
 
"We had some guys step up tonight with Sham fouling out and with Roydell still out," said Schroyer. "Everybody did their part. It was a great team win."
 
Things didn't look so great for the Cowboys to start things off as the Bears forced McNeese into an up-tempo style of play and quickly built a 10-point lead in the first six minutes after hitting 4 of their first 6 from long range.
 
But the Cowboys chipped away after falling behind by 10 a second time at 24-14 with 10:58 to play in the half, when Kennedy scored five straight points and James Harvey, who finished with 15 points, hit one of his four three-pointers to pull McNeese to within 24-22 at the 9:40 mark.
 
McNeese (8-18, 4-9) tied the game at 36-36 after a Kevin Hunt three with 3:14 to play but the Bears will score the next nine points to build a 45-36 lead at the half.
 
The Cowboys made the adjustments needed at the break and it showed in the second half.
 
"We knew we had to slow the game down," said Schroyer. "That's what we talked about at the half and we came out and did that."
 
After Johnson's steal and dunk put the Cowboys up 56-54 with 11:28 to play, Trey Touchet extended the lead to 64-60 with 6:27 to play off a three-pointer while Johnson gave the Cowboys their largest lead at the time on a layup to make it 66-60 with 4:10 remaining in regulation.
 
The Cowboys scored the first five points of the overtime period behind a Harvey 3 and Robinson layup, then a big offensive board and putback by AJ Brown was followed by a Harvey layup and two Jarren Greenwood free throws to give the Cowboys a comfortable 79-70 lead with 46 seconds to play.
 
Greenwood ended the night with his first career double-double after scoring 13 points and pulling down a career-best 10 rebounds, all off the defensive glass.
 
"I think this was Jarren's best game of the year," said Schroyer whose senior also handed out four assists and did not turn the ball over while playing 39 minutes.
 
Koval and Jones each scored 17 to lead UCA who lost for the sixth straight time, and Eddy Kayouloud added 14 points and 14 rebounds.
 
McNeese will be back in action on Saturday when it hosts New Orleans following a 1 p.m. women's game between the two schools.