THIBODAUX – Brandon Murray scored six quick points to pull McNeese to within four each time, but Nicholls responded by knocking down key shots and in return, knocked off the first place Cowboys, 71-63, to hand them their first Southland Conference loss of the season and snapping their 21-game league winning streak.
 
Even with the loss, McNeese (16-6, 10-1 SLC) has a two-game lead in the standings and it ends its three-game road trip. Nicholls, who needed the win to battle for the No. 2 spot in the standings, improved to 13-9 overall and 7-4 in the conference.
 
The Colonels used the long ball early and often, hitting their first four shots from three-point range, eight in the first half and 11 for the game. Meanwhile, McNeese went 0-for-12 from behind the arc, and despite the ill shooting from long range, had opportunities to get closer or perhaps take the lead.
 
Late in the second half, McNeese missed on two front ends of a one-and-one, missed a couple of point-blank layups and dribbled a ball of the knee off a steal.
 
Murray led McNeese in scoring with a season-high 16 points, 12 of those in the second half. Quadir Copeland added 14 points and Javohn Garcia scored 12.
 
McNeese went 0-for-12 from three-point range while Nicholls connected on 11 of 22.
 
The Colonels were led by Michael Gray Jr.'s 20 points behind 4 of 6 shooting from long range. Jamal West Jr. and Jaylen Searles each scored 12 and Sincere Malone added 10.
 
Nicholls led 35-28 at the half and led 64-55 with 3:52 to play. That's when Murray contributed with two straight layups And-1 to get the margin to 64-60 at the 2:51 mark. Malone answered for Nicholls with a 3 just seconds later but Murray responded with his second straight And-1 play to cut the gap to 67-63 with 1:53 on the clock.
 
Rob Brown hit a driving layup for the Colonels then after a McNeese turnover in the paint, Gray hit two free throws with 26 seconds left to make it a 71-63 score.
 
McNeese shot well from inside the arc, hitting 24 of 38 shots, but adding in the 0-12 from long range, settled for 48 percent shooting on the night (24-50). Nicholls also hit 48 percent (24-50) but outscored the Cowboys 33-0 from behind the arc.
 
The Cowboys made 15 of 20 at the free throw line while Nicholls sank 12 of 14, and McNeese had a 32-26 advantage in rebounds and outscored the Colonels 46-20 in the paint.
 
Saturday's game ended a stretch of three straight away from home. The Cowboys will return to the Legacy Center on Monday night when they host UIW at 6 p.m.