CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — McNeese State had trouble containing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s best player in the second half of Saturday night’s Southland Conference men’s basketball game.

That proved to be the difference in denying the Cowboys a much-needed victory, causing them to lose their third consecutive conference game.

Point guard John Jordan scored 19 of his game-best 22 points in the second half while leading the Islanders past McNeese 71-61 at Dugan Wellness Center.

A&M-CC (7-7, 2-0 SLC) erased a one-point, second-half deficit by closing the game with a 45-34 run to take it.

“Starting league (play) 0-3, obviously we didn’t want to be in this position,” Cowboys coach Dave Simmons said. “But we’re here now and the only one that can solve that problem is us.”

Jordan made 5 of 8 shots from the field in the second half after starting 1 of 5 to open the game. Jordan also helped himself from the free-throw line, making 10 of his 15 foul shots.

“Jordan’s a very good player,” Simmons said. “We did a good job on him in the first half, but he kept getting into the paint in the second half. Really it was two guys, as Jordan had 22 points and (Islanders forward Rashawn Thomas had 21 points and 15 rebounds). They were the difference in the game.”

Forward Desharick Guidry scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half to lead McNeese (6-8, 0-3). The Cowboys also got 14 points from guard Kevin Hardy and 13 points and three 3-pointers from guard Keelan Garrett.

The Islanders earlier held a seven-point lead before the Cowboys closed the first half with a 12-6 run to pull to within 26-25. McNeese guard Shaun Johnson’s last-second 3-pointer from near midcourt capped that spurt.

The Cowboys took a 27-26 lead on Guidry’s layup 15 seconds in the second half.

Thomas’ three-point play on the next possession enabled the Islanders to reclaim the lead, 29-27. That key bucket also sparked a 28-16 run which helped A&M-CC build a 54-43 lead.

Hardy — who had to play through foul trouble in the game — answered with a four-point play to bring McNeese back to within 54-47 with 5:32 remaining in the game. Hardy scored on a putback and was fouled. He missed the ensuing free throw, but got the rebound before making a driving layup.

The Islanders scored the next six points to push their lead to 13.

The Cowboys — who shot 37.3 percent (22 of 59) from the floor for the game — didn’t come closer than eight points in the final 3:18 of the game.

(Rick Hickman/American Press)

Rick Hickman