Box Score LAKE CHARLES – Stephan Martin fueled a second half rally for McNeese State as he scored 15 of his 19 points and the Cowboys closed out the game with a 15-2 run to rally for a 71-67 win over Southeastern Louisiana in a Southland Conference game Wednesday at Burton Coliseum.
Patrick Richard scored a game-high 20 points for McNeese State (6-11, 1-2 Southland), which outscored Southeastern (10-7, 2-2 Southland), 43-27, in the second half to snap a five-game losing streak.
Patrick Sullivan, who scored 10 points for Southeastern, gave the Lions a 65-56 lead with a dunk with 5:06 remaining before the Cowboys chipped away at the lead. C.J. Collins drained a 3-pointer for the Cowboys before Martin scored on a basket and converted on a three-point play that closed the lead to 65-64 with 3:40 remaining.
Richard gave McNeese State its first lead of the game with a 3-pointer with 2:34 remaining before Martin added a pair of free throws and Elbryan Neal scored on an uncontested dunk for a 71-65 lead.
Southeastern opened the game with a 13-2 run and built a 40-26 lead on a 3-pointer by
Gary Dixon with 1:16 remaining in the first half. The Lions, who led 40-28 at the break, shot 51 percent (24-for-47) from the floor for the game but committed 20 turnovers and were outrebounded, 21-12, in the second half.
Rodney Jones led Southeastern with a season-high 14 points while Sullivan grabbed eight rebounds. Freshman
Roosevelt Johnson added a season-high seven points and six rebounds for the Lions, who made 10 3-pointers in the contest.
Southeastern will return to action on Saturday when it visits Stephen F. Austin in a 6 p.m. contest at William R. Johnson Coliseum.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (10-7, 2-2 Southland)
Jones 5-9 1-3 14; Sullivan 5-7 0-1 10; Johnson 2-4 3-3 7; Patterson 2-3 1-2 6; Hutchin 2-2 0-0 6; Tibbs 1-1 4-6 6; Dixon 2-8 0-0 6; Fortenberry 2-4 0-0 5; Forest 2-8 0-2 5; Marks 1-1 0-0 2; Ndoumba 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 9-17 67.
McNEESE STATE (6-11, 1-2 Southland)
P. Richard 8-14 2-3 20; Martin 7-12 3-3 19; Morning 3-4 1-1 7; Alawoya 2-4 3-4 7; Collins 1-8 3-4 6; Cannon 2-4 2-2 6; Neal 3-7 0-1 6; D. Richard 0-2 0-0 0; David 0-0 0-0 0; Little 0-0 0-0 0; Regis 0-0 0-0 0; Kapelan 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 14-18 71.
Halftime – SLU 40, McNeese State 28. 3-point goals – SLU 10-20 (Jones 3-4; Hutchin 2-2; Dixon 2-5; Forest 1-5; Patterson 1-1; Fortenberry 1-2; Sullivan 0-1), McNeese State 5-15 (Martin 2-5; P. Richard 2-3; Collins 1-3; Cannon 0-1; Kapelan 0-3). Fouled out - None. Rebounds – SLU 30 (Sullivan 8), McNeese State 33 (Alawoya 11). Assists – SLU 12 (Sullivan, Forest 3), McNeese State 5 (P. Richard 2). Total fouls – SLU 16, McNeese State 18. Technical fouls – Hutchin. A – 504.
