Courtesy: McNeeseSports.com Stephan Martin led all scorers with 23 points.
Honolulu, HI – The McNeese State Cowboys fell 101-73 to the Northern Colorado Bears here at the Stan Sheriff Center during the season opener for both teams and the first game of the Rainbow Classic Tournament.
The Cowboys (0-1) were lead by Junior Stephan Martin who was the top scorer in the game for both teams with his career high 23 points. 19 of Martin’s points came in the first half where he was four for six from beyond the three-point line and two for two from the charity stripe. He would finish with five three pointers and was eight for 15 from the field.
“Stephan played very well tonight,” said Cowboy head coach Dave Simmons. “He came out with a lot of energy and stepped up when they were putting pressure on Diego (Kapelan).”
Kapelan, last year’s leading scorer for McNeese, had 11 points for the Cowboys and was two for five from three-point range.
McNeese held a three point lead late in the first half after a P.J. Alawoya dunk put the Cowboys up, but the team went into the locker room at the intermission down by six and never managed to regain the lead.
“We came out and played hard in the first half,” added Simmons. “But by the second half we just ran out of gas after running the full court press the whole game.”
Alawoya had five rebounds during the matchup and put up 10 points of his own. As a team the Cowboys were 17-23 from the free throw line and 23-58 from the field shooting in a game where every player saw action on the court.
Freshmen Brandon Regis and Dontae Cannon saw significant playing time for the Cowboys. Regis had 22 total minutes, 10 points, two steals and a block during the loss while Cannon had 13 minutes with five points.
“(Brandon) Regis is going to be good for us,” added Simmons of his freshman. “He came out and he played well and he played hard, just like he does in practice.”
Up next for the Cowboys will be a Sunday night contest against the host team the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. The game will start at 5 p.m. local time and 9 p.m. in Lake Charles.
Courtesy: McNeeseSports.com
