KINGSTON, Rhode Island – Tyshawn Archie's fade-away jumper with 1.2 seconds to play put McNeese up 66-64, then Javohn Garcia's blocked shot with under a second left gave the Cowboys the win over their second Atlantic 10 Conference opponent of the season here Tuesday night.
 
The win lifted McNeese's record to 8-2 overall, marking the second time in the last three years for the Cowboys to win eight of their first 10 games. It also marked the first win away from home in an opponent's arena. URI fell to 7-4 and lost for the second straight game.
 
Archie's final bucket gave him a career-high 18 for the game, one of three Cowboys to score in double-figures. Javohn Garcia added 13 while Larry Johnson scored 12.
 
McNeese led for 28 minutes of the game with another 9 ½ minutes tied. The Cowboys held their largest lead 45-38 with 17:31 to play in the game after a Johnson layup. The Rams, who went nearly nine minutes without a field goal in the second half, stayed close by knocking down free throws.
 
Rhode Island outscored McNeese 23-12 from the line for the game.
 
The Rams took their first lead of the second half with 5:59 to play, and the first time to be ahead since the 13:57 mark of the first half. It was short-lived.
 
Archie took over, scoring eight straight points, starting with a three-pointer that put the Cowboys back on top 57-55 with 5:14 remaining.
 
After RI tied the game on a Tyler Cochran bucket to make it 57-57, McNeese scored four straight, both from Archie, as the lead grew to 61-57 with 3:15 to play.
 
The lead hovered between 1 and 3 points until the Rams tied the game at 64-64 following a couple of Keeyan Itejere free throws with 1:15 to play.
 
McNeese then turned the ball over with 56 seconds to play but Garcia swiped a pass with 20 seconds remaining to give the Cowboys the ball back.
 
After a timeout, Archie took on the defender in the paint, stepped back, and knocked down the fade-away jumper with 1.2 seconds to play. Following a Rhode Island timeout, the Rams threw the ball the length of the court where Myles Corey's layup with half a second left was blocked by Garcia to end the game.
 
The teams battled to a 37-37 halftime score. The Rams hit a 3 with 19 seconds left to tie the game and the Cowboys were unable to get a final shot off.
 
McNeese started out making just 2 of 10 from the field but heated up as the game went along, sinking 11 of 21 the final 13 minutes.
 
The game saw three ties and five different lead changes with the largest advantage being a six-point lead by the Cowboys at 20-14 with 8:15 to play in the half.
 
McNeese played without starting point guard Garwey Dual the final 6:12 after picking up his second personal foul.
 
McNeese connected on 24 of 60 (40%) from the field, 6-21 (29%) from three-point range, and 12-19 (63%) at the free throw line. Rhode Island made 18 of 39 (46%) field goals, 5 of 18 (28%) three-pointers, and 23-27 (85%) at the line.
 
The Cowboys held RI to just 6 of 14 shooting in the second half.
 
McNeese and RI each pulled down 31 rebounds but the Cowboys had the advantage on the offensive glass with a 12-4 advantage.
 
Next up, McNeese returns home on Friday night when it hosts East Texas A&M at 7:30 to resume Southland Conference play. That game will follow a 5 p.m. contest between the two women's teams.