f the film didn’t convince McNeese how good LSU-Alexandria is, the Generals were able to do that job on the floor Tuesday night at Burton Coliseum.

LSU-A led the Cowboys for much of the first half and stuck around long enough to be annoyance until midway through the second half before McNeese pulled away for an 84-68 win. The margin of defeat was the largest suffered by the NAIA Generals in their four games against Division I opponents his season.

“These guys are good,” said McNeese coach Dave Simmons. “We got a little bit more aggressive the second half. We were real slow with everything in the first half. We got better defensively. We got rebounding a little better. Jamaya (Burr) pushed the ball up the floor and we got some easy baskets.”

Desharick Guidry recorded his seventh straight double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. However, he and the rest of the Cowboys (5-3) got off to a sluggish start as the Generals (5-5, 5-1 NAIA) were both outscoring and outrebounding McNeese with 8 minutes left in the first half.

“We were getting outhustled,” Guidry said. “We came out with no energy. We had to pick it up. Coach told us to get on the glass. Austin (Lewis), Kevin (Hardy) and I started boxing out more and getting some more boards on the offensive glass.”

Lewis had a career-high 15 points and 10 rebounds. It’s his third career double-double, though the other two were on points and blocked shots.

Senior guard Keelan Garrett also had a career night. 

Garrett hit 5-of-11 3-pointers on his way to a career-best and game-high 24 points.

“After I knocked down the first one I was feeling pretty good about myself,” Garrett said. “The way Kevin and Desharick get into the paint, that leaves a lot of opportunities around the 3-point line. I feel like it’s my job to knock them down.”

Getting Garrett going on a consistent basis would be a boon for the Cowboys, who are frequently challenged by opponents to beat them from outside.

“I was wondering why Kevin was passing up so many shots,” Simmons said. “He was trying to get Keelan started. And obviously it worked out tonight. Keelan shot the ball extremely well, and that was a big key when we needed to get some separation.”

McNeese finished 27 of 55 (49.1 percent) from the field after making just 4 of its first 15 shots.

The Cowboys were 24 of 39 (61.5 percent) at the free-throw line, though most of the struggles came from Guidry, who went 3 of 11. 

Guidry entered the game ranked as the third-best free-throw shooter in the Southland Conference.

“The confidence was there, but they weren’t falling,” Guidry said. “I missed eight. But six of them just rimmed in-and-out. I was just like, ‘Man, what’s going on?’ 

“But I’m ready to go to the gym now to shoot about 300.”

The Cowboys return to the Burton floor Saturday afternoon against defending Mid-American Conference champ Toledo.(Rick Hickman/American Press)

Rick Hickman