LAKE CHARLES – McNeese will open its home basketball slate on Monday night when the Cowboys host Champion Christian.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 at Burton Coliseum. The game will broadcast live on the McNeese Sports Network (Magic 92.1 FM).
 
The Cowboys (0-2) are coming off season opening losses at SMU and TCU that saw the new-look team compete well against the tough competition before falling late due to injuries and foul trouble.
 
McNeese will look to get in the win column against the Tigers, who dropped a 91-62 decision to Northwestern State on Saturday and falling to 1-5 on the season.
 
"Being back home and playing in front of our fans is going to be great," said first-year head coach John Aiken. "We're looking to play more efficiently and give the guys an opportunity to score and play well."
 
Aiken expects the regular rotation of players will see action as in the first two games.
 
Johnathan Massie will likely start at the point guard position for the third straight game while the two-guard spot could see Zach Scott, Harwin Francois or T.J. Moss make the start. Myles Lewis, Kellon Taylor and Brendan Medley-Bacon should round out the starting five.
 
"We're going to continue to learn and develop our rotation, no matter who the opponent is," said Aiken. "I would like to see KT (Taylor) play 20 minutes or more and see more of John John (Massie) and Christian Shumate."
 
Moss, who leads the team in scoring and is ranked ninth in the Southland Conference with 12.5 points per game, came off the bench against TCU and led the team with a career-high 17 points behind five three-pointers made. He's also sixth in the conference in assists with a 3.7 mark and third with 2.0 steals.
 
Medley-Bacon is second on the team with a 10.5 scoring average and is second with 5.5 rebounds. Lewis leads the team with 6.5 rebounds per game to go along with an 8.5 scoring average.
 
Shumate is second in the league with 2.0 blocked shots per game in addition to a 5.5 rebounding average.
 
As a team, the Cowboys are connecting on 34 percent of their shots and 26 percent from three-point range.
 
Champion Christian is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association and is located in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
 
The Tigers are led in scoring by junior forward Braylon Hawkins at 21.3 points per game and junior guard A.J. Williams with an 18.0 scoring average.
 
Monday's game will be the third meeting between the two in the series with the Cowboys having won the previous two matchups, both coming in back-to-back days last December with McNeese winning 94-36 on Dec. 29 and then 91-76 on Dec. 30.
 
Following Monday's game, the Cowboys will hit the road for a Thursday game at LSU which will act as one of three contests counting as part of the Emerald Coast Classic.