Special to the American Press

Special to the American Press

CONWAY, Ark. — A.J. Lawson scored 18 points with nine assists and seven rebounds — all team highs — and McNeese State used a 10-point run late in the second half to pull away from Central Arkansas for an 80-70 Southland Conference win on Saturday.

Lawson was one of three Cowboys in double figures with Harwin Francois adding a season-high 13 points, followed by Chris Orlina with 11 points and five rebounds. KeyShawn Feazell matched Lawson with seven rebounds.

“I’m proud of our guys,” said head coach Heath Schroyer. “They’ve been through so much but have never hung their heads and have continued to battle through everything.

“The bye week came at a good time for us. We had a really good week of practice and worked on things like winning the battle in the paint and on the glass as well as taking care of the basketball.

“Our kids bought into that all week and executed it today. There were times where we struggled, but that didn’t rattle us and we stayed true to the game plan.”

The shorthanded Bears — playing without five players, including two starters — kept both of the Cowboys’ leading scorers, Feazell and 3-point specialist Dru Kuxhausen, below double digits. They combined for 12 points.

“We did a great job on Feazell and Kuxhausen, and their other guys stepped up,” said UCA head coach Anthony Boone, who was limited to nine players. “They saw that they needed them and they stepped up and played really big. A lot of guys shot the ball well for them. And they shot a lot better than they have been for the season, and that was a little bit surprising.

“Some of that was because we didn’t guard them well one-on-one.”

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Cowboys (8-10, 2-7 SLC), who won their second road game in nine outings, both in conference. It also ended a three-game losing streak to the Bears and avenged an 81-67 loss on Jan. 2 in Lake Charles.

McNeese sent the Bears (3-14, 2-7) to their seventh consecutive loss, the longest active streak in the Southland.

The Bears were led by Eddy Kayouloud’s season-high 20 points and five rebounds, followed by Rylan Bergersen with 19 points and S.K. Shittu with 12 points and five rebounds. Jared Chatham grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to go with five points.

Lawson scored seven of McNeese’s points in a 12-2 run late in the second half, extending the Cowboys’ lead from 57-53 with 9:54 to play to 69-55 at the 5:08 mark.

McNeese maintained its double-digit lead the rest of the way by making four of its final six shots, 2 of 3 from 3-point range, and 3 of 4 at the free-throw line.

Francois took control in the final 5:08, scoring seven of his season-high 13 points.

Orlina, who returned to action against Lamar last weekend after missing the previous six games due to a broken hand he suffered against UCA in the first meeting, played 26 minutes on Saturday and connected on four of his last five shots.

The Cowboys, who are 2-2 on their five-game road swing, played for the first time since Jan. 30. They’ll finish the trip next Saturday at Northwestern State.

Unlike the Jan. 2 game when UCA took advantage of the Cowboys playing without Feazell, the league’s leading rebounder, by controlling the glass with 15 more rebounds, the Cowboys were a plus-4 in Saturday’s rematch.

McNeese outrebounded the Bears 35-31 and owned a 26-16 advantage with points in the paint.

McNeese took a 36-33 lead into the half after Lawson knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Cowboys rallied from a 27-18 deficit with 7:22 to play in the half.

The Cowboys did not surrender the lead in the second half and built their largest advantage at 79-65 with 1:14 to play.

In addition to Orlina returning to play significant minutes, Jeremy Harrell returned from an injury that has sidelined him the previous four games.

“It’s nice to get Chris (Orlina) back,” Schroyer said. “He was very instrumental in the win. Harwin came off the bench and hit some big shots for us. And Jeremy put up some big minutes for us.

“We’re almost at 100 percent with our team. It’s the first time since Christmas we’ve had that many bodies available to put on the floor.”

Senior guard Ra’Shawn Langston is the lone Cowboy sidelined as he’s battling a knee injury.

The Cowboys connected on 29 of 60 from the floor for 48 percent but knocked down 14 of 25 from behind the 3-point arc for 56 percent. The Cowboys also sank 8 of 11 from the free-throw line.

UCA shot 50 percent from the floor (25-for-50), 52 percent from long range (11-for-21) but struggled at the charity stripe, hitting 9 of 19 for 47 percent.McNeese athletics

McNeese State University