LAKE CHARLES – The Battle of the Border Part 3 will take place on Thursday night at the Legacy Center when McNeese hosts Lamar to start the second half of the Southland Conference season.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 on Joe Dumars Court. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
The Cowboys (5-17, 2-7 SLC) will enter the game riding a seven-game losing streak while Lamar (6-16, 2-7) has lost three-in-a-row.
 
GAME PROMOTIONS
• White Out Night. Fans are asked to wear white to the game while the first 250 students will receive a free Battle of the Border t-shirt.
• Thirsty Thursday in the CITGO Poke Plaza. One-dollar beers for those 21 and older. Must show ID.
 
THE SERIES
• Thursday's game will be the 114^th meeting in the series with Lamar holding a 59-54 edge.
• McNeese has won two straight against the Cardinals, both this season.
• The Cowboys defeated Lamar 66-57 on Nov. 20 in the McNeese MTE then downed the Cardinals 81-62 on Dec. 31 in the conference opener in Beaumont.
 
ABOUT McNEESE
• This is just the seventh time in program history McNeese and Lamar will play each other for a third time in a season and just the second time with all three games coming in the regular season slate (happened in 1955-56). The other times the two teams played a home and home series in the regular season before meeting each other in the SLC tournament.
• The only time the Cowboys defeated Lamar three times in a season came in 2001-02.
• McNeese is 3-6 at home this season and 1-3 in home SLC games.
• The Cowboys are being outscored 177-138 (avg. 25-19) in the final 10 minutes in the last 7 games.
• McNeese is 5-4 on the season when leading at the half.
• McNeese has attempted 550 three-point goals on the season... the single-season school record is 675 (2019-20).
• In four of the Cowboys' seven SLC losses, McNeese has led at the half.
• Cowboys have made at least one three-point goal in 316 consecutive games.
• Christian Shumate is ranked second in the conference with six double-doubles.
• Johnathan Massie has at least one steal in 14 straight games.
• Zach Scott has scored 1,256 points in his career which includes his playing days at Florida Gulf Coast University... he's scored 642 of those points as a Cowboy.
• Scott has knocked down 125 three-point goals in his McNeese career, needing 11 more to move into 10th on the McNeese career record list.
 
ABOUT LAMAR
• The Cardinals dropped both games last week – 62-57 at home against Texas A&M-Commerce and 80-65 at Northwestern State.
• Lamar is 0-9 away from home this season (0-4 in SLC games).
• The Cardinals are last in the league in scoring (67.4) and sixth in points allowed (75.3).
• True freshman guard Nate Calmese leads the team in scoring and is ranked 2^nd in the Southland Conference with 16.9 points per game.
• Calmese is averaging 18.1 ppg in conference games only.