LAKE CHARLES – The McNeese Cowboys returned to action after a 12-day layoff on Thursday night and ran into one of the hottest teams in the Southland Conference in Sam Houston State as the Bearkats led from start to finish and handing the Cowboys a 94-75 defeat.
The loss was the second straight for McNeese to start league play as it fell to 0-2 in the conference and 5-8 overall while concluding a five-game home stand. SHSU won for the sixth straight time and improved to 3-0 in the league and 10-4 overall.
"Sam is really good and they played extremely well," said McNeese coach
Heath Schroyer. "I thought we were on our heels. I don't think we played particularly well. I'm really disappointed in our lack of execution on our game plan."
Sha'Markus Kennedy led McNeese with 18 points and 14 rebounds to record his fourth double-double of the season.
Dru Kuxhausen added 15 points behind three 3-point baskets and
A.J. Lawson scored 14 to round out the Cowboys' double-figure scorers.
SHSU had two players top the 20-point mark – Zach Nutall with 25 and Demarkus Lampley 21. Mark Tikhonenko added 15 and R.J. Smith 12 while the Bearkats, who entered the night hitting 45 percent from the field and 37 percent from long range, knocked down 57 percent for the contest and 54 percent from behind the arc.
The Bearkats led 45-37 at the half and opened up the second half on a 14-7 run in the first three minutes to build a 14-point, 58-44 lead.
McNeese got a
Sam Baker three-pointer and a Kennedy dunk to pull to within 58-49 but SHSU responded with its own 5-0 run to go back up by 14 points five minutes into the second half.
The Cowboys never got the deficit back into single digits the rest of the game.
"The thing about them (SHSU) that makes them really good is that they put four guys on the floor that can all shoot," said Schroyer. "Then they put the big kid in there (Tikhonenko) and he made five threes, so you're always in rotation and they did a great job of that.
"I don't know if it was the long layoff or not. This game is not indicative of what we've been all year. We just have to figure out real quick because we have two tough ones on the road next."
McNeese shot 49 percent from the field and 54 percent in the second half, but the Cowboys, who entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in three-point field goal shooting at 44 percent, made just 7 of 25 from long range for 28 percent.
The Cowboys also turned the ball over 22 times while giving up 24 points off those errors.
McNeese will return to action on Saturday when it visits Central Arkansas, a 111-107 loser to HBU on Thursday night to fall to 2-1 in conference play. After that, the Cowboys will travel to Abilene Christian on Wednesday to face the 2-0 Wildcats before returning home on Jan. 11 in a double-header against Northwestern State.
