SAN ANTONIO – Sha'markus Kennedy recorded his 13^th double-double of the season with 23 points and 11 rebounds but Incarnate Word outscored McNeese 26-11 in the final 10 minutes of the game to lift it to a 65-59 Southland Conference win and handing the Cowboys their fifth straight loss.
 
McNeese falls to 12-14 overall and 7-8 in league play, and after Lamar's upset win over Sam Houston State, the Cowboys have fallen into eighth place in the league standings. UIW, winners of two straight and four of its last five games, improves to 9-17 overall but more importantly, 6-9 in the conference and just a game behind the Cowboys.
 
The Cowboys entered the game ranked No. 1 in the league in both scoring (80.6 ppg) and field goal shooting (50 percent) but was held 21 points below the scoring average and 10 points under their field goal mark and is the fourth straight game held under 45 percent shooting.
 
Dru Kuxhausen added 17 points for the Cowboys while hitting 3 of 5 from long range and a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line, and Roydell Brown cleaned the glass with 11 rebounds to go along with eight points.
 
Kuxhausen's season total of threes made increased to 104 and is just three shy of the school record of 107 and 11 away from the conference record of 115.
 
UIW was led by Keaston Willis' 23 points behind six three-pointers while Drew Lutz added 14. The Cardinals connected on 12 of 32 from behind the arc for the game.
 
McNeese led 28-22 at the half and led 34-30 with 16:36 to play when A.J. Lawson was ejected from the game for a flagrant 2 foul for swinging an elbow. UIW reeled off five straight points after that to take a 35-34 lead with 16:17 to play.
 
Kuxhausen gave the Cowboys the lead back following two free throws with 15:51 to play to make it a 36-35 game. After a Vincent Miszkiewicz jumper capped a 4-0 Cardinals run to put them up 39-36 with 14:17 remaining, McNeese scored 12 straight points behind a Kuxhausen 3, five points scored by Kennedy, a Brown basket and a couple of Truman Moore free throws to put McNeese up 48-39 with 11:11 to play.
 
Lutz answered with back-to-back 3s for UIW as the Cardinals begin to chip away at the lead, then when trailing by 1 with 5:29 to play, Lutz connected on his third trey in a five minute span that put the Cardinals up 54-52 with 4:57 remaining.
 
McNeese would retake the lead with 3:00 left of the clock after a couple of Kennedy free throws but Willis answered with a three-pointer at the 2:38 mark to give UIW a 58-56 lead.
 
The Cowboys managed just three points in the final three minutes as UIW finished off the game on a 7-3 run.
 
UIW out-rebounded the Cowboys by a 35-33 margin and scored 22 points off turnovers to McNeese's five points.
 
McNeese will return home on Saturday against New Orleans at 3:30 for the first of its final two home games remaining.