SAN ANTONIO – McNeese suffered is sixth straight loss on Thursday night, falling 70-65 to Incarnate Word in Southland Conference action.
 
The loss dropped the Cowboys' record to 5-16 overall and 2-6 in league play while UIW, who won for the third straight time, improved to 9-12 and 3-5.
 
Christian Shumate scored 18 points to lead McNeese while Johnathan Massie added 16 and Donovan Oday 10. The Cowboys shot 41 percent from the floor (26-64) but made just 6 of 25 from three-point range (24 percent).
 
UIW's Jonathan Cisse led all scorers with 24 points on 9 of 15 shooting. Trey Miller and Devante Dennis each scored 14 while Stephon Payne III recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
 
McNeese led 32-31 at the half but was held scoreless for the first 5:26 of the second half as UIW built a 39-32 lead. Back-to-back baskets by Zach Scott and Shumate pulled the Cowboys to within 39-36 at the 13:45 mark but the Cardinals went on a 9-3 run to take their largest lead at the time, 48-39, following a Cisse jumper with 9:42 to play.
 
The Cowboys answered with a run of their own with a basket by Massie then a Shumate dunk, and after a Cardinal layup, Harwin Francois knocked down a three-pointer to close the gap to 50-46 with 7:56 to play.
 
A Cowboy timeout following the Francois three seemed to work in UIW's favor as the Cardinals came out of the break with an 11-2 run over the next four minutes to build its biggest lead at 61-48 following a Payne dunk with 3:21 remaining.
 
A couple of UIW free throws by Trey Miller with 2:44 remaining put the Cardinals up 63-51 but the Cowboys battled back with an Oday 3 and a Scott layup off a Francois steal to make it 63-56 with 2:20 to play.
 
The Cowboys inched closer on two made freebies by Oday to cut the gap to 63-58 with 1:52 remaining and got the ball back after a UIW miss as Oday was fouled on the floor. His front end of a 1-and-1 fell off the rim and UIW rebounded as the Cowboys were forced to foul. The Cardinals hit 7 of their final 8 free throws to secure the win.
 
McNeese will next travel to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, a 96-86 winner over Nicholls on Thursday night, for a Saturday afternoon tilt. The Cowboys will return home next Thursday to face Lamar for the third time this season.