The McNeese Cowboys men’s basketball team (20-4, 13-3 SLC) defeated the Houston Christian Huskies (8-17, 4-12 SLC) 73-69 on Monday night inside the Townsley Law Arena in Lake Charles. The win keeps the Cowboys in second place and gives them their 20th win of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After an early 5-2 lead for Houston Christian, McNeese would respond with a 10-0 run, triggered by a couple of buckets from Larry Johnson. That gave the Cowboys a 12-5 lead.
McNeese would maintain their lead throughout the rest of the first half. However, HCU did not let them get far away. Down the stretch of the half, the lead was cut to two. Javohn Garcia made a shot to make it a four-point advantage for the Cowboys, taking a 37-33 lead into the break.
Early in the second half, McNeese got their lead into double digits at 47-37 with a three from DJ Richards Jr. However, HCU continued to fight back. They got the lead down to five at 62-57. They would even get as close as four at 66-62.
McNeese thwarted that threat, responding with a 5-0 stretch to make the lead a more comfortable one. They held on for a 73-69 win.
BIG NUMBER: 20
The win gets McNeese to 20 wins for the season, making the third consecutive year that they have reached that threshold.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Javohn Garcia
Garcia led the way for McNeese with a game-high 18 points. He also added four assists and shot an efficient 8-14 from the field.
UP NEXT: McNeese will be on the road for a Valentine’s Day matchup against East Texas A&M on Saturday at 5:00 PM.