Cowboys begin five-game road trip looking to end five-game losing streak with first conference win

Jim Gazzolo, Special to the American Press

For 31 minutes Wednesday night McNeese State was a dominant basketball team.

The Cowboys played a swarming defense, shared the basketball on offense and looked like the club that was promised in the preseason, outscoring Southeastern Louisiana by 19 points.

But a college basketball game lasts 40 minutes, and in those other 9 minutes, McNeese was a completely different team. The Cowboys lost their way on offense, going one-on-one and fumbling away possessions. On defense they gave up easy open jumpers and drives through the lane.

During the final 7 minutes of the first half and opening 2 of the second, McNeese was outscored 35-12. That span proved costly and led to a 92-88 SLU win, the Cowboys’ fifth loss in a row.

It is those runs that have McNeese (6-8) reeling.

“Hard to explain it,” said head coach Heath Schroyer. “We play real well for long stretches but then something happens. There are times or stretches where we are a totally different team.

“We have looked at every combination and can’t find anything consistent as to why it happens. If we did we would change it, fix things.”

The Cowboys need to change something and change it quick as they find themselves in last place in the Southland Conference. They get a chance to turn things around tonight when they travel to Houston Baptist to play the struggling Huskies (2-11, 1-5), who have lost four straight.

Game time was moved to 5 p.m. after the women’s game was postponed because of Covid-19 safety protocols.

“Right now, we just need a win,” Schroyer said. “We need to have something good happen.”

One thing going well for the Cowboys is the offense. McNeese has played well of late, especially when it comes to sharing the basketball. The Cowboys had 21 assists in Wednesday’s home loss.

“I like the way we have been playing pretty good on offense for the past couple of weeks, but we have to fix our pick-and-roll defense,” Schroyer said. “Our bigs are getting caught out on the floor and being taken away from the basket.”

Senior guard A.J. Lawson is coming off one of his better games, looking to build on a 21-point, 12-assist performance.

Tonight is the first of a five-game road swing for McNeese, which hasn’t won a game away from Burton Coliseum.

“We have to figure out how to win on the road,” Schroyer said.McNeese 3-point specialist Dru Kuxhausen and the Cowboys are looking to end a five-game losing streak.

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