BEAUMONT – The McNeese Cowboys will attempt to close out the basketball season on a high note when it visits Lamar for the second go-around of the Battle of the Border.
 
Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 4:30 at Lamar's Montagne Center and it will be carried live on ESPN+.
 
The Cowboys (9-21, 5-12 SLC) are coming off a 59-50 loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi this past Wednesday night, a game that eliminated the team from postseason contention.
 
Lamar (18-10, 11-6 SLC) is in fifth place in the conference standings and is one of the hottest teams in the conference with seven straight wins.
 
McNeese, who has played the last seven games without leading scorer and rebounder in Roydell Brown, has been limited to just seven scholarship and two walk-ons to close out the final eight games of the year.
 
Junior forward Sha'Markus Kennedy has been the top scorer and rebounder in Brown's absence, averaging 17.4 points and 10 rebounds in the last seven outings. During that span, he's scored 20 or more three times, pulled down double-digit rebounds four times, and has recorded three double-double games.
 
Lamar defeated the Cowboys 84-75 back on Feb. 2 in Lake Charles.
 
The Cardinals hold a 56-48 lead in the all-time series that began in the early 1950s.