LAKE CHARLES – HCU's Brycen Long scored a career-high 32 points and the Huskies knocked down 56 percent of their shots from the field to hold off McNeese 90-81 on Saturday afternoon in Southland Conference action.
 
The loss was the third straight for the Cowboys who dropped to 2-3 in league play, 5-13 overall, after starting out 2-0. HCU won its second straight game and improved to 3-2 (6-12). It was also the second consecutive win over McNeese in the series.
 
Zach Scott led the Cowboys with 17 points while Trae English scored 16 and Harwin Francois and Christian Shumate added 12 each. Shumate pulled down 12 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season and 11^th in his career. Scott and Francois combined to made 9 of 19 from three-point range in the game.
 
The Cowboys shot 48 percent from the field (31-65) and hit 12 of 30 (40 percent) from long range but it was the sharp-shooting of the Huskies that kept the Cowboys from getting the win.
 
HCU shot 56 percent for the game (28-50) and was 10 of 22 from three-point range for 46 percent, but in the first half, the Huskies sank 61 percent of their shots, including seven three-pointers, as they built a 41-38 lead at the half.
 
McNeese started the game hit hitting back-to-back 3s from English and Scott to build a quick 6-0 lead. HCU then scored seven straight to go on top. Neither team led by more than seven points in the first half, that being the Huskies at 41-34 with a minute to play before the Cowboys scored the final four points off a couple of Shumate layups, the last one a tip-in off an English miss right before the buzzer.
 
The Cowboys opened the second half on an 11-2 run in the first three minutes and led 49-43 after a couple of English free throws with 17:17 to play as Scott started the run with back-to-back 3s.
 
A 6-0 run by HCU followed and the game flipped leads for most of the half until the 4:24 mark when the Huskies broke a 70-70 tie with a 9-2 run that saw Long sink a couple of big threes.
 
Long then hit two free throws to make it an 83-75 game with 1:28 to play but Massie kept the Cowboys within striking distance by burying a three to cut the margin to 83-78 at the 1:16 mark. Massie then forced a turnover on the in-bound pass and fed Scott who missed the three-point attempt. The Huskies made its next five free throws to put the game away.
 
McNeese will return to action next Thursday when it visits Nicholls and will be back at home next Saturday, also against the Colonels.