LAKE CHARLES –
Trae English scored 24 points to lead McNeese and
Christian Shumate added his fourth double-double on the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds, but Louisiana-Lafayette was able to hold off the Cowboys for a 78-70 win on Thursday night in front of 2,101 fans at the Legacy Center.
McNeese fell to 3-8 on the year while ULL improved to 10-1 and beat the Cowboys for the eighth straight time.
ULL's Jordan Brown scored 20 points to pace four Cajun players who scored in double-figures.
The Cowboys trailed 38-35 at the half after ULL rolled off a 15-2 run late in the first half to erase a 29-21 McNeese lead to a 36-31 advantage with 1:52 to play. With the game tied 19-19, McNeese rolled off a 10-2 run to go up 29-21 at the 5:45 mark before the Cajuns began its offensive spurt. Shumate was able to get a put-back bucket right before the buzzer to pull McNeese to within 3 at the break.
In the second half, ULL built a 50-42 lead with five minutes gone, that's when English caught fire, scoring eight straight points and pulling the Cowboys to within 52-48 with 14:18 on the clock.
A three-pointer by ULL's Themus Fulks snapped the run but Shumate and English followed with consecutive baskets to close the gap to 55-53 with 10:55 remaining. The Cajuns grew the lead to five points at 60-55 with 9:15 left but that was followed by baskets from
Zach Scott and English to pull McNeese to within 60-59 with under seven minutes remaining.
Thirty seconds later, ULL led by 4 until a Scott jumper made it 63-61 but the Cajuns answered with seven straight points to go up 70-61 with 4:49 left. McNeese then scored five straight behind another English trey and a Shumate basket to make it 70-66 but the Cowboys were unable to get any closer as the Cajuns were able hold on for the win.
The Cowboys turned the ball over just 11 times in the game while scoring 18 points off of 15 ULL turnovers. McNeese reeled in 32 rebounds to ULL's 33, but held a 15-7 advantage on the offensive glass and scored 20 second-chance points.
English scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half while 10 of Shumate's 16 points came on second-chance opportunities.
McNeese shot 41 percent for the game (27 of 66) and 28 percent from 3-point range (7-25) while also connecting on 75 percent at the free throw line (9-12). ULL hit 57 percent of its shots (28-49), 50 percent from long range (10-20) and 67 percent at the line (12-18).
The Cowboys will be back in action on Sunday when they visit Southern Mississippi at 2 p.m. then will travel to take on No. 4 Houston at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. McNeese will open up Southland Conference action on December 31 at Lamar.
